Opinion: Amor Omnibus Idem
by Screamin Wookiee
Summary: Clint is faced with ending his friendship after Lucas falls in love with a very unusual girl. But there are more things than friendship at stake from this relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Here I stand. Between my friend and his fiance. The best man at a wedding that should never have taken place, and must be prevented from being finished. I'm sweating heavily. Nervously awaiting the signal when I'll spring my trap and end this. I think over the events that led up to this day to pass time. And I wonder how things got so out of hand.

"If there is anybody here who has any reason why these two should not be wed, please say so now, or forever keep your silence."

Show time.

Eight months earlier.

I'm walking through the streets of Hearthome city when I see him. It's Lucas. And he's late for our weekly drunken pokemon fight, again. I was honestly thinking about training him to more expedious, but I knew I'd never get around to it.

He's running towards me with all speed like I'm going to blow up at him, but I'm not angry. Just impatient. He comes to a stop in front of me, panting and stuff.

"Are you ever going to be here on time?" I ask.

"Dude, I'm six seconds late. Are you ever going to stop being so picky?"

Excuses, excuses. That's all I ever hear out of him. "No. You can't be a good trainer if you're always late for shit."

Lucas just rolls his eyes at this. He's never really liked my uncanny ability to be on time, every time. Then again, I've never really liked it either.

"Well, sorry for being "late". I ran into a pokemon on my here, and I had to catch it."

"What for?" I ask confused. "Isn't your Pokedex already complete?"

Lucas shakes his head and says "I was missing one entry: Lucario."

"Oh, yeah. that's right. You finally cought it, huh?"

"Not _it_, _her_."

"Her?" I never refer to my pokemon by gender. I prefer to leave them as its, so as to keep it in their puny little brains that humans are the masters of the world. This usually led to my confusion at his usage of pronouns.

"It was a female. And I cought her."

"Whatever. Are you planning to battle with it?

"It's her, and no I'm not going to battle with her."

"Shame, I would've loved to see what drunken commands you would give it-er her."

"That's _why_ she's not battling." Lucas looks around as if looking for something. "Where's the liquor anyway?"

I hold up a pokeball and hit the button. Two 2-liter bottles of scotch pop out.

"I had to smuggle them inside here. My mom wouldn't let me leave the house uninspected. I think she may be catching on. Here." I hold out one of the bottles for him to take, when both bottles fly into the air, and smash themselves on the pavement.

"Halt!" a voice says from behind. "Stay where you are!"

"Great..." says Lucas "Officer Nobeer."

Turning around to face the officer, I see his Kadabra keeping pace alongside him. The culprit behind our lack of booze. The officer stands before us, proud and confident.

"What may I ask were you two doing with scotch?" he asks. I really want to flip him off. I bet Lucas does too. But instead, he answers the question.

"Pouring it out in a display of anti-booze protesting?"

"After producing it from a pokeball?" he says skeptically. "No dice, mister. You were either going to drink it, or have your pokemon drink it." Nobeer looks down at the ground and shakes his head. "I don't know why everybody wants to battle drunk lately. It's disgusting."

"Maybe it's because some of the commands are so hilarious." Lucas blurts out. I feel like strangling him. Now we're sure to get in trouble.

"Aha! I was right!"

So was I. Lucas' face fell, clearly aware of his mistake.

"Six days of community service for both of you." Nobeer informs us happily. "I'll see you both bright and early tomorrow morning, children." As he walks away into the distance, I yell "We're not children already! We're seventeen years old!"

"Give it up man." Lucas tells me. "They'll keep calling us kids until we turn eighteen."

"Easy for you to say! You're turning eighteen next week!"

"True dat."

We start walking along the streets, chatting, laughing, enjoying our last free moments before forced labor hits us. We eventually wind up in our favorite burger joint, "Gud Booger". Rather than ordering anything, however, we just go to our usual table, and sit down for a long talk. It would be the last normal talk we would have for a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm sitting in the kitchen, reading the newspaper. I can hear something whistling, or maybe blaring, but I'm not sure what. My hand is a claw, it's connected to a tentacle, and I have a beak. Then I realize that I never read the paper. The blaring, or whatever it is, gets louder. Yet I ignore it. The question is: why am I reading the paper? That would never happen in real life. Real life? Great. I'm dreaming. That means I'm asleep, and it's time to wake up. Time to wake up in a world where my freedom has been exchanged for six days of community service.

My eyes open, and I find myself staring into the face of Officer Nobeer.

"Hello, Clint." He says. "Nice to see you're awake... six hours after you were supposed to!"

I sit up instantly. "Is it really one-o-clock PM!"

"Seven-o-clock AM, actually. I wanted to get you guys started at one-o-clock, but your parents wouldn't allow it."

I drop my top eyelids, forming my eyes into little half circles. I should've known. Nobeer was one of those early-to-bed types. And by early I mean six-o-clock PM.

After shoving the jerk out of my room, I proceed to get dressed, wash my face, pack a case of itching powder, and grab my pokegear. I never leave the house without my pokegear. You never know when some loser is going to challenge you.

Downstairs in the kitchen, I find that Lucas is already here eating breakfast. His face is solemn, and a lack of sleep is clearly apparent. Poor guy. He doesn't sleep well anymore, and this can only make things worse. But there's something else on his face, but I can't tell what. Clearly, I shouldn't have skipped my psychology class.

"What's up?" he askes.

"The sky. What about you?"

"I'm thinking the ceiling. But I'm not sure."

"Hey! No chatting among the accused!" Nobeer barks. Once again I feel the urge to strangle Lucas. But I think the feeling is directed more towards the asshole in police uniform. After all, Lucas merely sealed our fate. Nobeer is the one controlling it.

We continue eating breakfast in silence, since Nobeer is clearly against any kind of social communing. When we all leave the house, Nobeer practically shoves us out the door and into his car. Lucas and I are surprised that he didn't put handcuffs on us this time. We've still got marks on our wrists from last time. Then, during the short drive, Lucas and I attempt to communicate again.

"Which pokemon did you bring?" I whisper to Lucas. Nobeer doesn't respond to my actions.

"Luxray and Lucario." Lucas whispers back.

"That's it?"

"I didn't have time to grab my pokegear. I had to put the balls in my pockets." He points down at his pockets which are bulging out, almost popping the seams.

"Oh."

"I take it you brought along six as usual?"

"Nah, I only brought along four. I'm hoping to catch something new today."

"Like what?"

"Well... Ah!!"

The car came to a sudden halt throwing Lucas and I forward in our seats. If not for the seatbelts, we would have sailed through the windshield.

"We're here." Nobeer sang. "Prepare yourselves for six hours of pain."

* * *

"Six hours of pain isn't a proper description." I tell Lucas. "A six hour long taste of _hell_ is more like it."

"Does that even properly describe it?" Lucas askes while stabbing a piece of trash with his pointy stick. "Because I don't think it does."

The current temperature was over one-hundred degrees fahrenheit, and it would only get hotter as the morning pressed on. And there we were, picking up trash in the middle of a black tar parking lot, stabbing cigarrete butts. If we had had brooms, it would've gone a lot faster. But Nobeer had insisted upon using these freaking pointy sticks. He also insisted on not giving us breaks. I stab another piece of trash and put it in my trash bag.

"Somehow I think you're right."

"Hey." He says. "Why don't we employ our pokemon to help?"

"Are you kidding? Officer No-Brains over there will catch us."

But he's not over there."

I look over to where Nobeer had been standing. He was gone. He wasn't anywhere in the area.

"Let's do it." I tell him. But Lucas was already sending out his Lucario when I said this. Following his lead, I released a Cyndaquil I hadn't had time to train. The flaming creature gave me an affectionate purr as it came out. I smiled at it, then commanded it to incinerate the trash scattered around the parking lot. It went about the task, happy to be of service to it's trainer. It's loyalty was almost scary. Across the lot where Lucas was, his Lucario was running around, picking up trash with the spines on the back of it's paws. While our pokemon made quick work of our job, Lucas and I took a well deserved rest.

"How's Dawn?" I ask.

"Huh? Oh. She's fine."

"Nothing going on between you two anymore?"

Lucas nodded. "We broke up."

"Interesting... I always thought you two were made for each other."

"Nah. She turned hippie."

"Oh, dude!" I say laughing. "She joined the "Pokemon Rights" movement?"

"Yes, she did." Lucas narrowed his eyes. "I'll never forgive her for it either. I'd sooner fall in love with a pokemon."

"I wouldn't go _that_ far. But yeah, I wouldn't forgive her either."

"Aye." Lucas paused for a moment. He seemed to be watching his Lucario closely. I didn't pay much attention to this at first. Then I noticed his smitten posture. His face didn't betray anything, but I knew there had been some emotional change. Again I wished I hadn't skipped psychology in school.

"What?" I ask.

"Huh?"

"You're watching your Lucario in a funny way."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

He gave me this look that suggested I drop the subject. "I'm not looking at her in a funny way. I'm just watching her do my job."

"Sure you are." I said sarcastically. "And then we can all go have ice cream afterwards and tell each other how much we love-"

"Shut up!" Lucas swung his arm at me, but I dodged it laughing. "You're a jerk."

"Aw, I'm just kidding. But seriously, you were looking at it strange."

"Hello boys." A voice said from behind. Both of us froze, and slowly turned our heads around to stare into the legs of Officer Nobeer. We looked up in unison at two black points in his head. The points stared down at us with a freezing glare making us forget how hot it was outside. How he could do that with his eyes was beyond me. I just knew we were in for it now.

"Making your pokemon do the job, eh?" He said slightly amused. "Now, you can just go and help them with the task. March!"

Lucas and I walked to our respective pokemon, and continued our pain and suffering. I wasn't sure, but I could've sworn I heard Nobeer laughing evily at us.


	3. Chapter 3

"Worst, six hours, of my life." I tell Lucas, wiping another waterfall off of my face. "If you thought stabbing trash in the heat was bad, try stabbing trash in the heat while standing next to 'Cyndaquil The Burninator'."

"Eesh, that would be bad." Lucas wiped some sweat off of his face, but not nearly as much. "The work for me wasn't all that bad, Lucario and I talked quite a bit."

"Huh? How could you? All pokemon are incapable of speech, aren't they?"

"_Most_ are. Not all."

That's news to me. "So what did you two talk about?"

"Oh, you know. Stuff, pokemon, what she's looking for in a mate."

"Oh. You two going out anytime soon?" Lucas was clearly prepared for that one. He smacked me upside the head before I even saw it coming.

"Would you just drop that already?" He complained.

"Hey, you were the one talking looove with the Lucario. Not me."

"I wasn't talking love! I'm getting sick of your smartass comments."

"That's because you chose to be friends with a Designated Asshole."

Lucas glared at me again. He was becoming more and more mature the closer he got to being eighteen. And I clearly wasn't. If I had said this earlier in the year, he would've had some snappy comeback to counter my smartass comments. Now, he just glared. Sighing, I said "Fine..."

NOTE: While the whole story has been written in first person, some portions, not focusing on Clint's perspective of the events, will be written in third person. Like when Clint isn't around to witness everything transpiring around Lucas. After all, no human can bilocate. So do not be surprised when such portions show up.

Lucas and Clint split up for the rest of the day, as both were very tired, and Lucas wanted time alone. His stomach hurt. And the feeling was getting worse. It wasn't the kind of pain one got from actual physical ailment, though. It was the kind brought on from emotional turmoil. It had started the day before, and it was rapidly getting worse. He wasn't even sure what had started it.

_I haven't felt like this since before I told Dawn I loved her. But I haven't met any girls since. Maybe I _am_ sick._ Lucas thought as he curled up in his bed. He didn't pull on any blankets, however; he was already plenty hot.

_Hot. Hmm_. Had he said that out loud around Clint, he would've made a joke about it for sure. But he wasn't, and he couldn't. Maybe it was the increasing friction between him and his immature friend. He couldn't blame Clint for being himself though. It would be wrong for him to do that. But that didn't feel like the problem. His stomach kept hurting, and it almost seemed to be getting worse. Maybe spending time with a pokemon would help.

He picked up a pokeball and activated it. A hologram of the pokemon appeared above it, along with some text asking if he really wanted to release it. He pressed yes, and dropped it on the ground. A three-foot tall creature with black, blue, and yellow hair, spines on it's paws, and large ears appeared on the spot. Lucario. He hadn't had much time to be with her,and he felt like he was neglecting her as a trainer.

"Hello Lucas." She said in her small animal voice. "I's nice to see you again."

"Likewise." He said.

The Lucario looked around. "I haven't been called to battle?"

"Nope. I'm just lonely."

"Where is your friend?"

"He's at his house. We had a fight, and now we need time to be alone."

"But you are not alone. I'm with you."

Lucas smiled at her. "Indeed I am."

"Then how can you be alone?"

"Okay! That came out wrong. I meant we needed time away from each other."

The creature appeared to understand this, but Lucas wasn't sure if she understood completely. But maybe just enough to know they didn't want to be together at the moment.

"When will I battle?" She asked. "I'm itching to get out on the battlefield."

"You want to fight?"

"Yes. I've found that battling is very good for attracting possible mates."

"But that would mean you were cought once before."

She nodded. "I think I may have been, but I don't recall any such event."

Lucas suddenly thought of something. "Why is your intelligence so much higher than other pokemon? Most of the ones I've seen can barely utter their own name, yet you seem as smart as the legendary, Palkia."

The Lucario shrugged. "As far as I know, I've been this way all my life."

"Lucas!?" Lucas whipped around to face the door. It was closed, and locked. "Lucas! Who are you talking with up there?" It was his mom calling him.

Lucas didn't think she would believe the truth, so he lied. "Uhh, no one. I'm listening to a radio program."

"Oh. Well, could you keep it down a little? It sounds like it's being recorded in our house."

"Ok."

"Maybe I should go back into my ball." The Lucario whispered. "I don't want to get you into trouble."

"That's probably a good idea." He picked up the ball, and pressed the recall button. The pokemon dematerialized, and returned to it's home. He felt a little silly over the idea that his mom might object to him talking with his pokemon. Many people talked to their pets. But this one could hold a pleasant conversation, and it was a girl. And when it came to women, his mom was like an overprotective father trying to keep elligable bacholeors from his daughter. Only in reverse. He shook his head. Sometimes she was nothing more than a pain in the neck. At the his stomach pain was gone. _I guess that was all I needed._


	4. Chapter 4

After splitting up with Lucas, I went to Proffesor Rowan's lab. I was pretty sure he had once said that all pokemon lacked speech abilities. That would mean that Lucas was lying, though. And I knew he was always truthful. Or delusional. One of the two. But I didn't think he was crazy either. It may have just been the heat playing tricks with his head. But that would still be strange, as Lucas had never had any such problems before. He had never had heat stroke. He had never been made dizzy from heat. And he had never seen a mirage. Not even the ones that appear on hot roads. Obviously I was showing some doubt in him. But... ok, it wouldn't be the first time I've doubted him. The last time I did, he ended up champion of the Pokemon League. Maybe something big was in store for him again. Reaching the entrance to Rowan's lab, I barged in.

"Didn't you say that all pokemon lacked speech?" I blurt out the second I'm in the door. Everyone turns to look at me. I felt my face go red. Once again, my impatience had embarassed me. Shit.

"Is that you, Clint?" an old man asks from a computer in the back.  
"Yes, it's me. How's it going?"

"Oh, not too bad. I finished an experiment a few days ago, nothing much." He stood from his PC and strode over to me with a confident air. "But what was that question you asked?"

"Huh? Oh. You said it was impossible for all pokemon to speak, right?"

"That is correct. There is no species of pokemon that can speak any of our languages. Although some may understand us, their vocal cords lack the ability to create the proper sounds."

Interesting. "Thanks, Professor. I'll be going now."

Rowan nods. "Why did you want to know that, anyway?

"Just needed to be reminded."

"You mean you didn't run across a pokemon that could talk?"

"Not personally."

"But there's someone who has?"

"Maybe." I made a break for the door and left before he could ask another question. Why was he so interested in it anyway? Of course, he _was_ a scientist. He probably had some natural attraction to the idea. Maybe I could steal Lucas' Lucario and sell it to him... No. Lucas is my best friend, and I couldn't take advantage of him like that. Still, I filed the idea away in my head for possible use in the future.

* * *

I could tell I was dreaming again more easily this time. I could see Officer Nobeer sitting in the electric chair, and I was standing next to the lever. My hand wasn't sweating like it would for most people, and I was smiling, even though no executor would. 

"Any last words, Officer No-brains?" I say with a laugh.

"Yeah, I've got some for you." He said defiantly. "Wake up!"

Jerking awake from my wonderful dream, I sit straight up and bang my forehead into a cooking pan. I cursed the stainless steel object and lay right back down in pain.

"Thank you, Miss." Nobeer said to an unknown presence in the room who must've been Mom. "I may never have gotten him up without it."

"Don't mention in it." Mom answered in a bittersweet voice. "But if I'd known you were going to that with it, I wouldn't have." Then she left.

"I may have to write your mom up for that." He tells me. "Denying a police officer required materials for a job is a minor offence." As I sit up again, I have to try really, and I mean _really_, hard to not punch him in the face. One day though, I will. Sure, I'll go to jail for it. But it will feel sooo good.

"..."

"Ok, _creeminals_." Nobeer says with a sneer. "I've prepared a new kind of torture for you. Your going to wash all of the windows on this run down building, and then paint the whole thing before dinner."

Lucas and I gape at him. Surely he couldn't mean that, could he? Then he bursts into laughter, which I think was supposed to mean he was kidding. But considering how we thought of him, we didn't. He eventually stopped laughing and recomposed himself.

"Nah, I'm just shittin' with ya. Instead, you're going to take all the dogs inside the building for a walk."

"That's it?" Lucas laughs. "Man, this will be easy."

Nobeer smirked at my friend's naivete. "Without leashes."

"How disappointing." I say monotonously looking at Lucas, whose face seems to have frozen in it's current state. "How long will this take anyway? I mean, at what time will you come and rescue us?"

"You have four hours to get them back to the Animal Shelter."

"We'll do it in two."

"I'm sure you will."

Lucas said nothing.

* * *

"You _had_ to tell him we'd finish early, didn't you?" Lucas mutters angrily as we walk into Gud Booger. "You just _had_ to get in that one little defiant shot." 

Lucas was clearly not understanding of the circumstances. "How was I supposed to know he'd make us walk them all the way around town twice after reaching the Shelter? It's not like I can read the guy's mind." Nobeer had once said that he said that he prided himself in killing his subjects. Lucas thought he was kidding. I doubted it, and thought today was just more proof of his treachery.

"I don't know, but backtalking to him is a bad idea." Lucas plants his hands on the counter. "What do you want?"

I look up at the menu. There's, like, a thousand choices, but I only recognize one. "I'll have a cheeseburger. Do you really need to ask?"

He turns his head and fixes me with this awkward look. "Well, what if you want something different?"

"Dude! We've been coming here for three years, and I've ordered the same thing every time. Do you really think I want to eat snails or some other shit they serve?"

"It's called escargo, sir." The cashier informs me, like I didn't already know that.

"Your mom's Escargo." I yell back at him. "And she-"

"Two cheeseburgers, two large fries, and two large sodas." Lucas interupts before I can finish. I glare at him, but remain silent as we wait for our food. Once it's placed on the counter, we pick it up and proceed to our usual place by the window.

"I wish you wouldn't interupt me while I'm crushing one of the little people."

Lucas rolls his eyes. "And I wish you would grow up."

I shrug. "I can't deny who I am, and niether should you."

Lucas puts on his confused face. "Who says I'm denying who I am?"

"Me." I say pointing to myself. "I can see it in your eyes. There's a killer in there who wants to escape."

Lucas just shakes his head, and takes a big bite of his burger. I do the same, savoring the bite and chewing slowly. Even though I've eaten hundreds of these things, every time I have another it tastes better than the last time. Maybe it's because I know I could croak at any time during the day. Or it's the sign on front that says "Gauranteed to taste better every time!".

"So," Lucas starts saying. "are you ready for the battles in the Sinnoh National Battle League tonight."

"Five straight battles in a contest to score points and make it into the finals? Dude, I've been ready since we woke up this morning. And I had that dream where we win the championship again."

"You still think it's prophetic?" He asks.

I looked at him, then at the fry I was dipping in ketchup, then at him again. "Yes." The fry tastes old. I frown and silently curse the cashier. I know he did it on purpose.

Lucas shook his head and chuckled. "You're setting yourself up for disappointement if you keep that up."

"Are you kidding? I've dreamed of this since we went in as a team, with, I might add, increased frequency. And besides, we're the two best trainers on the island. What can go wrong?"

"Just warning you."

Just warning me? Yeah right. Lucas' negativism knows no bounds. I know he thinks we won't win, I can see it written on his face. But I know we can, and we _will_. The dream is merely a forshadow of what's to come: Ultimate recognition as the best trainers in existence.


	5. Chapter 5

The Hearthome colosseum, a place once meant for holding those moron popularity contests that niether challenged nor proved the abilites of your pokemon. However, two years ago, all of that changed. The owner noticed that the attendance to the contests was waning, and didn't want to see his colosseum knocked down. He brought several ideas to the board in charge of the contests. Only one intrigued them. It was that one idea, that stole the show from the other divisions, and spawned the greatest thing since the Pokemon League: The Sinnoh National League. Spectators could watch the pokemon battles for the first time in a collective audience, and anyone could participate; not just those few with eight badges. This brought in millions of people each day looking to register for the battles. But, like other sports, the league only lasts until the season is over. Each season lasts six months, and we're currently coming close to the end of this one. There are ten battle sets for each team(teams can consist of one or more trainers), and each one pits you against five teams in one night. Lucas and I only have three more of these sets to go after tonight. And after that, the finals, and then the championship.

As we walk through the colosseum doors, I take in a heavy breath to smell the air. The air inside the colosseum is full of thousands of smells, and I try to smell them all. It's an excercise I started after the first season of pokemon fights started here two years ago. It helps me determine which pokemon I'll be pitting mine against, and to prepare myself mentally. I smell a Pikachu, or maybe a Raichu, somewhere in the area. Skin and hair particles from electric type pokemon are charged, and produce a slight pain in the olfactory nerve. That, attached to the distinct smell of the creature, tells me I should be cautious to bring in any water types. Ah, knowledge is a wonderful thing.

Lucas is walking along next to me in silence. He's staring in some other direction, occasionally looking foreward to see where he's going. I track where his eyes are going, and spy I lovely young girl our age. Being the way I am, I prefer to be a lone wolf. But I can see Lucas' attraction to her, even with my lack of psychological knowledge.

"Dude," I say, nudging him with my elbow. "just go ask her."

"Ask who what?" He asks innocently.

"Her." I point to the girl. "I know you're watching her."

Lucas turns pink. "Is it that apparant?"

"If I notice it, yeah, it's pretty obvious."

"Crud. But seriously, what did you think I should ask her?"

He doesn't have any idea? Jeez, even _I_ would have some idea of what to ask. "Maybe you should just introduce yourself and see if she needs help, or something."

At first, Lucas looks like he's actually going to go do it. Then he closes his eyes and says "No, I can't do it. I'm too shy."

"You're never going to get a girl being shy, idiot." I shove him away from me in the direction of the girl and blend into the crowd. Lucas looks around for me and fails. He has two choices now: one is to continue looking for me, and possibly get lost and miss the battles. The other is to go over to the girl, do what I say, and await my reappearance in the ready room. Then I thought, why I am doing this? If I didn't want to do something, wouldn't I want my friend to back up my decision? I suppose I would, but this is Lucas. He once made me swear an oath to do shit like this. Although he's long forgotten that, and believes I made it up. And besides, the guy needs to spend time with women his age since he's the marrying type. I think... Oh shit! I may have just set him up with a lifetime of pain and suffering from which there is no escape. Or maybe not. There may be a chance that he can hit it off ok, but still withdraw if she's not his type or vice versa. I congratulate myself on my genious, and proceed to the ready room to prepare for battle. Along the way, I realize that the girl looks very familiar.

"..."

_Great_. _He's gone and messed with my love life again._ Thought Lucas after being shoved into the crowd. Clint had done this only once before, but that had only been a little shove and Lucas had refused to follow through with the meeting. Now, however, he almost had no choice. It was either go through with it, or end up looking weird. And besides, he really did want to meet her. The girl really was very lovely. She had tan skin, a beautiful head of red hair about shoulder length, and small eyes. She was tall, but not as tall as he was. Her clothing consisted of a short red skirt with a black top that had long, translucent, black silk sleeves. In her left hand, was a bag, one that was used to store one's pokegear. And in her bag, he could hear the clacking of many pokeballs being shifted around. She was in tonight's battles then. _Something we have in common_. That made his mind up. He walked slowly towards her, trying to look like he was minding his own business, but at the same time making no effort to hide his trajectory. He was close enough now that he could hear her worried speech.

"Where is it?" she muttered to herself, rummaging throught her bag. "I know I brought it along with me."

Lucas slowed his pace and came up from behind her. "Can I help you?" he asked politely.

"Not unless you can..." She looked up at him. "Hi... Umm, yeah. I seem to be missing one of my pokeballs. You haven't seen one rolling around here, have you?"

"Not to my knowledge, no."

"Damn! I needed that one for tonight. I've been waiting all week to unleash his power, and smite all of these losers with a vengeance!" For that last part, she had raised her hands in the air, and yelled the word "vengeance". People turned to look at her, and she put down her arms sheepishly.

"Sorry." She apologized. "I tend to forget I'm around people and speak exactly what's on my mind."

Lucas shrugged. "Don't worry about it. My best friend can be the same way sometimes."

"So that's why it didn't phase you..." her voice trailed off, entering a short lived silence. "You wouldn't know where I might look to find my pokeball, would you?"

He shook his head. "No, I wouldn't. You could always borrow one of mine, if you want."

Her face lit up at the suggestion. "Really? Well, that's great! Whatcha got?"

"Hold it. We haven't even introduced ourselves yet." He extended his hand. "I'm Lucas."

The girl took the hand. "I'm Eve. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Lucas pulled out his pokedex. "Choose whichever one you want from the list."

Eve's eyes bulged at the enormous list. "You've actually caught them all!? I hope you're not going up against me tonight."

"Because I would defeat you?" He asked, curious.

"Hell no! Because I would hate to crush you're, no doubt, humongous ego."

Lucas narrowed his eyes. "I don't have an humongous ego."

"Oh, really? My bad. I just assumed since you had actually caught them all and..." She fell silent for a moment. "I'll take your Lucario." She said returning the pokedex.

Lucas hadn't expected that. Especially since _he_ had been planning on using her. But all he said was "You got it." Then he handed over the pokeball.

"Hey, thanks." She placed the ball into her bag and zipped it shut. "You'll get it back before the night is over. Promise."

Lucas smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"..."

Lucas finally appears in the ready room, five minutes before the first round is about to start. And I'm more than ready to get on with it.

"So, how'd it go?" I ask impatiently.

"Not bad. I guess."

"You guess?"

"She's just kind of... odd. That's all." He walks over to the PC and boots it up. I hear the familiar sound of the Pokemon Storage System starting up, which is confusing. I could've sworn he had his six pokemon when we left, but maybe he didn't. "Do you know anyone amed Eve?" he asks, still looking at the screen.

"Eve?" I've seen that name before, and I tought myself to hate it and the person attached to it. "She's the first loser we get to destroy tonight." I pat the pokeballs affixed to my belt lovingly. "I brought my most powerful pokemon just for the occasion."

"Yeah, well. Don't go too hard on her." He warns.

"Why? You know everkill is my style."

"But she's going to be using _my_ Lucario."

"What?" I say in disbelief. "She's using... You lent her your..."

Lucas closed his eyes. "Yes, I did."

I slap my hand over my eyes while uttering every swear word I know. "What did I tell you about conspiring with the enemy? Didn't I tell you not to?"

"How was I supposed to know she was our opponent for tonight? I never saw the list."

"You were supposed to have read it by now."

"If you saw the list, then why didn't you say something before shoving me into the crowd?"

"Ah..." I begin to say before falling silent. "Hmm, you have a good point." Then I realize something horrible. "Oh, shit, do you have any idea what you've just done?"

"Well if you hadn't shoved me out there, I wouldn't have done it. So this is all your fault!"

I shake my head. "No, that's not what I mean. I met her earlier. She's got one huge ass ego. And if she knows you have none, she'll be all over you."

Lucas doesn't answer. Not a good sign. "You didn't tell her you have no ego. Did you?"

"Why does it matter? I thought you wanted me to have a girlfriend?"

"I do, but that means she may throw the fight so you'll win. And if that happens, we may get kicked out of the battles altogether. Think about it. You two meet in the hallway. You lend her a pokemon, but the ball won't be noticable on the security cameras. They might think it's a bribe! And if that happens-"

"Nobeer!" He exclaimed suddenly. "He would increase our punishment one-hundred fold!"

"Exactly. We'd also be kicked out of the league for the rest of the season. So you can't be seen anywhere near our booth tonight. Hell, you can't even battle. I'll have to control all of our forces."

Lucas looked at me like a sad puppy. "What about me? What am I going to do all night?"

I thought about it for a moment. "You can go hang out with your new girlfriend and feign support for her. And get your Lucario back afterwards."

Lucas nodded. "Sounds reasonable." Then he points at me. "And she's not my girlfriend. At least not yet, anyway."

"Sure whatever. Now get going, I've got to get out there in two minutes." And with that, we both leave the ready room in opposite directions. I run down several halls, until I reach my destination: the Battle Booth. It's a small room, and the interior isn't lit very well, but that's ok. All the controls I'll be needing for the battle are in here, none of which require light from an exterior source. I hit a button on the desk, and an inset touchscreen lights up. I run a few prebattle tests to make sure nothing is going to screw up on me, then I reach for the headset that's dangling on a hook on the ceiling, and put it on.

"Hello, Clint." Says the female Pokemon Computer Operater happily. "Welcome back."

"Glad to be back."

"Indeed." There's a short pause. "Where is Lucas? His headset hasn't activated yet, nor has his PC."

"Lucas couldn't make it today." I lie. "He's sick."

"Oh, that is a shame. I shall announce it to the crowd."

"Wait! No! He doesn't want it to be known."

"But I must. There is no way to avoid it."

Damn! I need a reason for her not to give his name. I struggle to come up with a reason, but none are good enough. Except one. "Look, we're a little bit of a mess at the moment. If you have to announce Lucas' absence, fine. Just don't say his name."

"And what's in it for me?" She asks.

"One-hundred bucks after the season is over." I wish I hadn't offered so much, but I knew she wouldn't refuse.

"Very well then," she says. "I won't say a word."

"Thank you."


	6. Chapter 6

"It's a wonderful evening tonight, folks." The announcer exitedly proclaims over the intercomm. "We're here in the middle of Hearthome city bringing you full coverage of the absolute carnage that is sure to take place tonight."

"That's right Bob." The other announcer continued. "Because tonight, we have Clint going up against Sunyshore's greatest trainer. And I can tell you now, it's going to be a clash of the egos." There was a great roar that spread through the crowd, shaking the building to it's foundation. Clearly, they were ready for a fight. So was I. Unfortunately, things had to be delayed a little by the announcement of Lucas' absence.

On the computer console in front of me are the current standings. Lucas and I are winning by a landslide, and well on our way to the finals. I press a button and switch to a view of arena. Cataclysm, my Graveler, is fidgeting with it's fingers impatiently. I check to make sure my headset is secured properly to my ear, and activate it. Through the speaker in my ear, I can hear Cataclysm's impatient growling. It sits on the opposite side of the arena from my opponent's Rapidash.

"Calm down, Cataclysm." I tell it soothingly through the microphone. "You'll get to wring it's neck soon enough." The growling toned down a little, which is what I want. Cataclysm has a problem with rage, and will sometimes disregard anything I say to satisfy itself. Getting it to calm down is very important.

As I look across the arena to glare at Eve, who was in the other booth, I see Lucas standing beside her. He doesn't have a headset like she does, but I can see him talking to her. Good, my friend. Take up her attention. Cause her to make bad calls. Clear the path for my victory!

The bell rings, and the first match starts. The Rapidash surges foreward, but I tell Cataclysm to stand still and brace itself. The flaming blur slams it's horn into my creature and falls back. As the Rapidash shakes it's head, Cataclysm takes the small moment it has while it's stunned, and sends one mighty fist -smack!- into the face of it's enemy. I watch in grim satisfaction as the creature flies into the wall surrounding the circular arena, knowing full well that it won't get up. I've seen Cataclysm launch attacks like that many times, and none ever get up. It will take a ten second count down for Eve to realize that though.

"Good job, Cataclysm." I congratulate my beast happily. "Way to stick it to him."

Cataclysm grunts back in satisfaction. The countdown hits nine, and, one second later, hits ten, removing the Rapidash from the fight. Now I'll have a chance to see who my next victim is. A picture of a water type pokemon appears on my console. A Seaking to be exact. Which is trouble for Cataclysm.

I drag Cataclysm's icon on the screen to the "withdraw" box, place a different pokemon in the "(re)send" box, and hit the withdraw/resend button. Cataclysm returns to it's ball, and Thundaga is released from the spherical holding chamber. Both mine and Eve's ball hit the floor at the same time, creating an effect of synchronized unity. Unfortunately, her Seaking is much faster than Thundaga, as is it's attack and growth level. I know it could be trouble, but I don't let it show. The bell rings, and so starts the second match.

"..."

"He's going to tell Thundaga to charge." Lucas told Eve. "He likes to make sure his opponents fall on the first hit, as well as making them suffer horribly."

Eve acknowledges with a nod. "Is he that cruel to his own pokemon?"

"No. He's a good trainer. All of his pokemon are really happy with him. He just sees no need to be the same to those he defeats."

Eve didn't answer. She was too busy commanding Aquala, her female Seaking, to perform a rain dance. Lucas sat back to watch as his best friend slaughtered his new friend without remorse. And also worry about what would happen to his Lucario.

Eve's Seaking finished it's rain dance, and was now moving much faster. Thundaga had just completed his charge when Aquala smacked him with it's horn, knocking the electrified creature down. Blood sprayed onto the floor from an open wound in Thundaga's side. A collective gasp rolled through the crowd as everyone waited for Clint to remove him from the arena. No such command came.

Looking back at Aquala, she seemed to be unharmed from the attack. But it was soon apparant that her right side had been paralyzed, preventing her from swimming properly.

"Damn it!" Eve slammed her fist down on the dashboard of her console. "That little rat-like bastard! Now Aquala is sure to-" A crack of thunder and a flash interupted her. A large bolt of lightning, that had been generated by Clint's Raichu, struck the limping Seaking. Lucas watched as more electricity proceeded to rain down from the sky and pummel the poor creature under a torrent of pain and misery. He began to worry even more about the Lucario.

"..."

"Yes," I whisper under the sound of the lightning strike. "Rain down from the heavens, sweet judgement. Strike down all who are unworthy!" The Seaking is now lying on the ground, little arcs of electricity jump across it's body. The creature is badly burned, but alive. That's all that matters. If I were to have accidentally killed it, I would've been expelled from the match, and any points gained would be lost. Speaking of getting killed, I realize that Thundaga is losing it's energy very quickly. That wound had done far more damage than I realized as I started facing the horror of it's death. Without looking at which pokemon Eve would be sending out, I select the next pokemon in my queue, and again press the withdraw/resend button. Thundaga returns just in time, and I breathe a sigh of relief as it heads off to be healed. Even though I'm cruel and seemingly evil to my opponents, I love my own pokemon as much as one would love their favorite pet. The only difference being that I own over three-hundred of these pets.

My nerves returning, I check to see which one I sent out. Wiizal, my Floatzel. Then I check which one Eve sent out. Son of a bitch! It's Lucas' blasted Lucario. Oh, shit! Even worse! I can see Lucas wearing the headset instead of Eve. He's going to be the one fighting me, not Eve. I glare at the bitch with an acid stare. She's turned Lucas into my enemy. I find myself regretting the shove I gave him back in the crowd. If only I had stayed out of his love life...

Whoa, focus! I tell myself. I can't win this thing if I'm worrying about something trivial. I can beat Lucas' little Lucario. Niether him, nor it have had any practice with each other. They're a match made in hell. And on top of that, Wiizal has a growth level of one-hundred. Virtually nothing can stop it. I smile at my foolish friend. Tonight won't be as bad as I thought it would be. The bell rings once more, the beginning of the third match. And that's when Wiizal unleashed it's might.

"..."

Lucas watched as the wave of water proceeded to send Lucario into the arena wall, the force of the water pressing her against it. She tried to fight it, but failed. Lucas knew she could drown easily under there, and that the pokeball would retrieve her before she died. But that would put her out of the fight for the night, and he had promised Eve to try and defeat Clint. A promise he was determined to keep, even if it _had_ been a excuse to protect his pokemon.

The waters subsided, finally, and the female Lucario fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Listen," he whispered into the headset, not wishing Eve to hear him. "I know you can understand me, so listen carefully. The Floatzel is level one-hundred, where as you are only level seventy-eight. But you do stand a chance."

"What chance might that be?" She gasped.

"You'll need to dodge all of it's attacks." He told her. "Clint never buys ethers or any healing items that perform the same task, so if you can wear it down, it'll be open to attack."

She acknowledged with a nod and thumb's up, or rather, a spike's up as she has no thumbs. Lucas sighed and sat back to watch... And hope that Clint didn't slaughter her.


	7. Chapter 7

"Grrrraaaahh!" I slam my fist down the console, nearly destroying the touchscreen with the force of the impact. My anger and frustration are very apparent, my face twisted into a mask of rage. The source of my emotion is also apparent: Lucario. How is it that Wiizal can't even hit that little bitch? How? That damn creature has somehow managed to dodge, or live through every attack my Floatzel can throw at it. Everything! Not even using surf worked, and now Wiizal can't even use that. I thought about pulling out Cataclysm again. A ground pokemon would be far more effective against this target... Then again, my foe would probably continue to escape it all. Still, I need decide what I'm going to do, and fast. Wiizal is tiring out quickly, and it won't be long before it can't attack anymore. Figures it would be _now_ that I realize the usefulness of ethers and the like. I can hear Lucas' voice in my head, and it's mocking me for my arrogance as he's often done. I raise my fist again to for another hit to the console, but I think better of it. I must remain calm, or at least _try_ to. As I remember thinking earlier, rage could cost me the battle, be it my pokemon, or my own.

I hear a thud through my headset, and turn to see that Wiizal has fallen to the ground exhausted. The poor creature is nearly at the end of it's rope, no longer able to battle effectively, or at all for that matter. And yet that dumb little bitch of a Lucario is jumping on it, raking the spikes on the back of it's paws across Wiizal's flesh and drawing blood.

I send my hands flying across the console, dragging two icons into their appropriate boxes, and press the withdraw/resend button. Wiizal dematerializes from beneath the wench, causing it to fall, and a new pokeball rolls into the arena. The capsule bursts open in a blaze of glory, a custom ball capsule, releasing a female Charizard. Across the arena in the other booth, Lucas swallows noticably. Now, we shall see if his pokemon can stand up against me.

"Charling, annihilate it." My command is calm, unbetraying of my true feelings: The desire for bloodshed.

"..."

"Problem." Lucas said out loud to no one in particular.

Eve answered him anyway. "I see it."

"Growth level ninety-two. Fourteen levels higher than Lucario."

"Do you ever name your pokemon?" Eve asks out of curiosity rather than relevancy.

"Only in rare cases." He began whispering into the headset again. "Lucario, how do you feel about dodging more attacks?"

"Not very!" She sounded frightened. "Get me out of here!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Huh? Why?"

Lucas bit his lip nervously. "Basically put, you're our best bet for defeating the Charizard."

"How?" She sounded even more scared. "How am I the best choice?"

"Who are you talking to?" Eve asked. Lucas fell silent, blushing bright red. He couldn't admit to talking with his pokemon. Clint hadn't believed him, and niether would she.

"Myself." He lied. "I have Multiple-Personality-Syndrome."

"Hey, that's pretty cool!" Eve blurted without thinking. Lucas turned around in the chair to face her. She had just called a major psychological problem "cool". A problem wherein one's concious self goes into the background while the other personality surfaces, preventing the other's participation in life.

"Eh, er..." Now she was blushing. "Isn't it?"

Lucas bit his lip, stopped thinking about her faux pas, and started thinking about his lie. He had just made a big mistake. If she ever mentioned what he had just said around Clint, he would be caught in lie. One that would be incredibly hard to either prove, or to tell the truth. If he tried to prove it, he would most likely fail. That failure would cost him his friendship with Clint, and any kind of relationship with Eve. but if he told the truth, people would think he was crazy. Both paths were connected by a signle person: Eve._ I guess, she won't be my girlfriend after all._

"I-I-I'm sorry." Eve stammered. "I-I shouldn't have said that." She hung her head, and began fidgeting wwith her hands.

Lucas waved a hand at her. "It's ok."

"I didn't think before speaking again, and I really shouldn't have said anything."

"Really, it's ok." _Especially since I just did the same thing_. "Let's just worry about the battle at hand right now."

Eve, remaining silent, nodded. Lucas turned back to the battle, and closed his heart once more.

"..."

A flood of fire erupted from Charling's mouth, scorching everything on the arena floor... Except that damn Lucario, which is currently clinging to the top of the arena wall. Damn it! Climbing the walls shouldn't even be allowed. Eh? What's that little bitch doing now? Oh, it's running between Charling's legs. Yeah, that's real original, bitch. Everybody runs between Charling's legs. Hell, even I've done it a few times in years past. Man, if I don't do something soon, Charling's going to end up like Wiizal. The only problem being that I really don't have any other pokemon that's better suited to taking the Lucario down. I have a Staraptor with the knowledge of Aerial Ace, but that's not very effective against steel types. Of course, fighting types aren't very good against flying, either. That would make the playing field more level than it is now, but that's a problem. I like the odds to be in my favor all the time, if possible. And if they aren't, I get nervous. Kind of like right now. None of my pokemon can hit Lucas', thus shifting the odds out of my favor. But I had to let Charling try. If I started seeing signs that it was ending up like Wiizal, I'd pull it out and let Cataclysm have a shot.

Charling currently had the Lucario backed up against the wall, and was preparing for a mighty belch of flame. The flaming beast reared it's head back, and spewed flame from it's mouth, scorching the wall and the creature against it. I grip the edge of my seat and lean foreward, hoping to see my enemy fainted on the ground. Yet, somehow, the thing is still standing. Badly burned and on fire, but still standing.

"Finish it!" I scream into the headset excitedly. "Now! Before it's too late!"

Charling was about to let loose another volley, when the three-foot high monstrosity leapt at the throat of my pokemon. The look on it's face was of pure rage, clearly pissed at having been scorched. That must've been what was keeping it going.

Charling grabbed the angered beast, and held it before it's mouth. I look on with a crazed smile spreading across my face, waiting impatiently to see the Lucario's annihilation. But the annihilation didn't come. Instead, both Charling, and the Lucario started looking around as if searching for something. This won't do.

"Finish it, Charling!" I yell into the microphone again. I instantly pull off the headset as Charling starts roaring uncontrollably. It's cries almost sounded like it was worried. Bizzarely enough, Lucario is doing the same thing. It's still struggling against my pokemon's strength, only it's yelling it's head off while doing so. Although, I suppose that _is_ a reason to be screaming. Charling, however, is a little different. I raise one eyebrow at it's actions, and just stare. Across the arena in the other booth, it looks like Lucas can't quite figure it out either.

"..."

"What do you mean "it's" happening?" Lucas asked Lucario. "What's happening?"

"I need to get out of here! Let go of me!" That's all she said other than grunting from the struggle, and her gurgling roar of communication with Charling.

"What's going on out there?" Asked Eve, refering to their odd behavior.

Lucas shook his head, and threw up his hands. "I couldn't tell you. It's like they're going crazy out there. Something is scaring both of them, but I can't get a straight answ-... uh, I can't figure it out." He had almost said _get a straight answer from my Lucario_, _but she won't tell me a thing_, but had managed to correct himself in time. His MPD excuse would take care of the rest. But he still needed to know what was scaring them.

Charling finally let go of the howling Lucario, and both of them began running around in a strange pattern. First they would run one way, then in the opposite direction, switch positions, and repeat. The crowd was transfixed on them. They shouted and cheered at what they must've thought was a choreographed dance. But something was most definitely wrong. Lucas couldn't stop thinking about what his Lucario had said. _It's happening... I can feel the earth changing... I need to get out of here..._ What did it all mean? What was happening? How was the earth changing? Why did she need to get out? Was an earthquake on the way perhaps? That was impossible. Sinnoh had never suffered from a single earthquake in it's long history. Why would that change? A new lava channel maybe? But, geologists would have known of such things by now if any such thing were forming, and would have notified the public to any danger. So what was wrong?

Lucas reached for his glass of water, when he noticed something. There were ripples running across the water's surface. But the desk with the inset console wasn't shaking, or at least it didn't appear to be. And the ripples didn't get smaller, or stop, either. They gradually grew until a noticable vibration began shaking the cup towards the table's edge. Lucario's sceams became more frantic as she began trying to climb the wall with Charling joining her. And that's when everything went to chaos.


	8. Chapter 8

The world around me was naught but a swirl of color. Large, orange balls trailing tails of red and yellow fall before my eyes. When they hit the ground, everything shakes, and the floor underneath my face cracks. Underneath my face? My eyesight clears, and everything cames back into focus. I'm lying down on the ground, one side of my face covered in blood. I lift myself up on one arm, and see the wooden beam that must've hit me on the head. looking to the front of the booth, which has been sheared off, I have an open view of the destroyed arena. Only the chair is untouched, still in perfect condition. Not for long.

Something large, burning, and nasty came crashing down through the roof. I know because it nearly crushed me, missing by only an inch. While it may have missed, the shockwave it created threw me out of the room and into the hallway. On the ground again, my head aching something horrible, I get up, only this time, it hurts. It hurts a _lot_. I figured that a piece of shrapnel had lodged itself in my side, and I was right. As I ran my hand across my chest on the left side, I felt a piece of wood sticking out. I'm lucky it didn't hit anything vital, but enough blood loss will kill me just as effectively. And that will probably happen if I try to pull it out. I'll leave it in. Which may or may not be a bad idea. I tried walking, staggering to the left, and rammed a wall, jamming the "splinter" farther into me.

"Oh, holy shit!" I gasped at the sharp pain erupting inside me. Tears well in my eyes, but I continue to walk. I have to get out.

I come to the first corner down the hall, and notice that the corridor is lined with fire. The smoke that should be clogging the corridor is flowing out through a hole in the ceiling. Which is, naturally, a good thing. The bad thing, however, is that I now have to try and pass the flaming boulder that made said hole; it barely has a foot of space between it and the wall. I test out sucking in my gut, and get a fresh reminder of the wooden object that's slowly killing me. Getting around that thing isn't going to work. I need another way around. What I got instead was ash in the face, flung by some wooden beam falling.

As I cough and hack from all the ash, I hear an explosion rumble from within the building. No, it's a chain of explosions. They continue for ten seconds, then stop. But I know they'll start again, and when they do, the building may very well fall. I shake my head in despair. How can I hope to get out of here? I'm two-hundred feet from the entrance, but I'll have to travel more than four-hundred feet to reach that entrance. I have no idea which halls are blocked and which ones are clear, and I'm injured. Speaking of which, something in my hand feels wet. I take a quick look down at my left side. Shit! it's bleeding around the shard! It's flowing very quickly as well. In a few moments I'll only have enough blood to keep my brain alive. And that's a bad thing. I tear off my shirt, and wrap it around the wound, hoping it will slow the flow of blood. It does.

One crisis averted, I am once again charged with the problem of getting around this damn boulder. No other way has presented itself, so it looks like I'll have to go around it. I suck in my gut again, trying to find a way to do it without pain, or at least minimal pain. Each time I do, I can feel the sharp, wooden, shard rub against one of my organs. It hurts, but I have to do it. I press myself against the wall, and start to inching past the rock, slowly. Preventing all contact with it isn't possible, but at least contact is limited. And what little does touch me burns my skin and sears my flesh. The feeling is not unlike being grilled... Not that I'd know what that feels like anyway.

Ok, I'm almost there, I think I'm going to- Son of a bitch! my wooden companion is on fire! I can feel the heat cooking the wound and boiling my blood. It's a strange sensation, but also very painful. as I scream, letting go of my breath, my bare stomach involuntarily presses itself upon the hot stone. With all this pain is exploding all over my body, and I can't seem to suck my gut in anymore. I start panicking, and move past the rock as quickly as I could, regardless of any damage I might be doing to myself. I finally push past the boulder, and fall to ground clutching my stomach. But it doesn't feel like my stomach anymore. It feels like a giant scab with blood trickling out through the cracks. I can't find my belly-button either. I can only assume it got scraped off.

While I lay there, the world around me burning itself to a charred husk, I hear the explosions again. They're closer this time, and they continued to close in. Looking back between the rock and wall, I saw the floor burst into flame just before they stopped. If it starts up again, they'll come down this hallway and end me. I try to stand, but the pain from doing that keeps me down on the ground. I'll have to crawl instead. But I'm determined. Nothing is going stop me. I'm going to see this through. End of story.

"..."

Lucas kept watching the colosseum entrance, checking each person who ran screaming from it. He was looking for Clint, who had not shown his face yet. Eve stood next to him, appearing not at all worried about him or anything. Both of them had managed to escape without incident. Lucas hoped that Clint would do the same. But with each passing moment, he began to wonder if something bad had happened. Around them, the disaster continued to play out. Great balls of fire were spewing from the peak of Mount Coronet, and they were raining down upon the colosseum. Just, the colosseum. From where they stood, they could see lava blazing orange-yellow trails down the side of the mountain. There was talk of people being stuck inside the caverns that led to Mount Coronet's peak. People were screaming about their loved ones still inside the colosseum. All was chaos.

Another stream of people came screaming and coughing from the huge building. Lucas got a good look of all of them, but none were his friend.

"Has he come out yet?" Eve asked.

"Not yet, but I'm hoping he will."

"What if he's injured?"

Lucas hadn't thought of that. "It wouldn't stop him. He's a fighter. A fierce on at that."

"Really?" She sounded surprised. "The way his pokemon faught wouldn't suggest that. I'd say he's afraid of defeat, and resorts to overkill to get it."

"You just don't know him the way I do." Lucas told her. "Back when I was still- wait, there are more coming out."

Six more people had exited the burning building. One of them was being supported by another. Lucas moved a little closer to see who the newcomers were, and was dissapointed to see that Clint wasn't among them. Lucas had had enough waiting. If Clint wasn't in some trouble, he would've been the first one out. The fact that he hadn't shown up yet was enough reason to assume the worst. Lucas began walking towards the entrance. Eve noticed him going, and ran after him.

"I'm coming with you." She said, trailing behind him.

"Sure. The more the merrier." _And a better chance of saving Clint_.

As they approached the flaming doorway, smoke pouring forth from it, they were stopped by a police officer.

"You, stop! Nobody's allowed to go in. The building could collapse at any moment."

"And my friend is still in there." Lucas said, pushing himself past.

"If your friend is still in there," The officer said, grabbing his shoulder. "you either need to forget about him, or let us deal with it."

"But you're not dealing with it!" Lucas exclaimed. "You're just standing there, preventing us from helping someone in need."

The officer sighed. "It's not a fun job, and I don't like leaving them in there-"

"Then you won't mind if we go in." And with that, he pulled his shoulder away and made a break for the door. Eve was a little slow on the uptake. It took her a moment to understand and follow Lucas. Behind them, they heard the officer yell. "Come back! You won't make it before the bulding comes down!"

Lucas thought about that for a moment. The man was probably right, but that didn't make leaving Clint to certain death correct. Lucas ran through the door, and disappeared into the smoke and flames, Eve following close behind.


	9. Chapter 9

I'm going to make it... I'm going to make it... I keep telling myself this despite the fact that I may very well not. It's kind of annoying, yet oddly comforting at the same time. Kind of like the day I defeated Lucas for the first time. The battle was long, I was on my last pokemon, and so was he. Palkia. His last one was Palka. Mine was Glaceon. Nothing it had was super effective, but it made up for it in special attack power. A one hit kill. Or faint. Whatever you want to call it. Oh, shit, I'm delerious. I also feel something warm...

My hand had landed into an open flame, slowly burning itself away. And here I was, thinking about some day in the past like I would any other day. I pull my hand back, cursing myself and the flame, and set it back down on the floor. It hurt far more than anything I had encountered so far, and it left a lovely blood slick behind as I pulled myself foreward. I embraced it. Pain was the one thing keeping me going. Natural strength had forsaken me, and I hadn't eaten in hours. So as far as I know, I'm running on pure pain induced adrenaline. I suppose it could be worse.

I round another corner, slowly, but fast enough to escape some more falling support beams and the ash they threw into the air. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. Especially in the condition I'm in. No. I have to stay focused. Whining is for idiots, giving up is for losers. That's why I win all the time. I refuse to give up. Even if I do lose, I win. Because I'll be back again to defeat whosoever defeats me. Just like... Shit! I'm doing it again.

"..."

Lucas and Eve had been searching for well over ten minutes, but no sign of Clint had presented itself. Their first thought had been to check his Battle Booth, but the hallways and corridors were so choked with debris that getting there was nearly impossible, and inadvisable. But Lucas wasn't going to let that stop him, and there was no telling what Eve was thinking. She seemed to be bravely trudging along with him, not exactly caring where she was led. Although, sometimes, Lucas thought he saw fear in her eyes.

The two rounded another corner, ducking into a doorway for a moment while ceiling tiles fell, then walked across the rubble and continued.

"Where are we?" Lucas asked Eve.

"Somewhere on the west side of the colosseum." She looked at something on the wall. "Yes, definitely on the west side. But I'm not sure exactly where, or if there's anywhere to go from here."

"There." Lucas pointed to a door. "We're near our Battle Booth-" A cracking noise interupted from above. Lucas barely had enough time to pull a shreiking Eve out of the way before the wall collapsed onto the point she had just occupied.

"We need to get out of here!" Eve screamed, trying to get out of Lucas' grip.

Lucas shook his head. "Not until I've found Clint."

Eve stopped struggling and said "We."

"What?"

"You said 'until _I've_ found Clint'. There are two of us here trying to attain the same goal. The correct pronoun was 'we'."

Lucas released Eve and she put a couple of steps between them. For a moment, Lucas thought she was going to straighten her hair, but she didn't. Instead, she turned around, gave him a small smile, and motioned for him to lead the way. Lucas was about to say something when the building shook. Explosions could be heard in a chain fashion, and heading in their direction, _fast_.

"Quickly, inside!" Lucas yelled, pulling Eve towards the Booth's door.

Mere seconds after they had launched themselves through the door, the corridor exploded into flame, knocking out the floor and making it impassable. The front of the booth, where the large window had been, was gone now and they could clearly see into the arena. Several tons of rock, metal, concrete, and various other materials were scattered all over the colosseum's main floor. The stands where spectators had sat were nearly gone as well. Only a few bloodstained chairs remained.

"Any ideas on how to get across?" Asked Lucas. But Eve was already fishing for a pokeball in her bag, and muttering to herself the way she had when he'd first seen her. The attraction towards her spiked again, and he began to wonder if he should pursue a relationship anyways.

After a moment or two, Eve produced a ball from her bag, and threw it into the wall next to them. The capsule burst open, and an Aerodactyl materialized before them. Eve stroked it's chin lovingly as it sidled up next to her.

"Get on." She said climbing onto the beast's back. Lucas would've climbed on as well if there had been enough space. Instead, he opted to hold onto it's legs. The flight went without a hitch, except for the flaming rocks that tried to kill them, and soon they were inside the Booth that Clint had used. While Eve was returning the aerodactyl to it's 'ball, Lucas checked the ground, and noted the presence of blood.

"He's injured." Lucas stated, Eve coming to his side.

"And moving." She pointed out a trail of blood that led towards the door, disappeared, and reappeared on the wall in the corridor. The corridor itself was a raging inferno.

"I don't suppose you'd have a water type on you?" Lucas asked, feinging casualness.

"That would be too easy." She muttered back, unhappy with the fact.

Both of them gulped simultaniously, and leapt into flaming oblivion.


	10. Chapter 10

It's been ten minutes since I rounded that last corner, and I've barely made any progress. With each move I take, I leave more of myself behind. Blood is streaming from my wounds at a constant rate, and I fear I no longer have the strength to carry on, or even to remain optimistic.

I thrust my right hand foreward, but it fails to support me. I flop down onto the burning floor, and I stay there. I don't move, and I don't care anymore. I need to rest. I know that it will be fatal, but I can no longer motivate myself to move. So, here I remain, waiting for the fire to eventually consume me along with whatever is left of the building.

I can't believe it's finally come to this... Dying, alone, in a burning building, with no friends or family around. Not that I'd expect them to be here anyway. I would certainly hope not anyway. I hope Lucas got out of the building, and that he'd have enough sense to stay out. He's got a life ahead of him, anyway. And what did I have in store for myself? Not much, if anything at all. So my death will have no real impact on the future. Not the cheeriest thought in the world, but the truth never is. And I think that's as close to the truth as anything gets.

As I wait to black out, something grabs my arm. My vision, being as blurry as it is, keeps me from seeing who, or what, it is. I can only assume it's a human, who, on his own way out, saw fit to help me. Well, whatever will happen next, I won't be finding out. Blackness is creeping around the edges of my vision, and finally enabling me to have peace.

"..."

"He's unconcious." Lucas said, relieved that his friend was still alive.

Eve looked at Clint's tattered body. "It looks like he had one hell of a time, too."

"Yeah. I wonder-" An explosion interrupted him, and flames spewed from a door behind them. "Quick!" Lucas ordered. "Grab his other arm! We need to get out of here, _now_!"

Eve did as she was told in silence. She placed her hand on Clint's left forearm, and, with Lucas, pulled him off of the floor. They supported his limp form on their shoulders and started walking foreward. Another explosion, to close for comfort, encouraged them to start running. BUt the explosions didn't stop there. They continued to erupt behind them, creating a flaming wall that chased them throughout the building. Although it wasn't especially hard to outrun it, eventually they came to an intersection, forcing a tough decision on their part. The might-be rescuers looked down each corridor.

"Which way!?" Eve asked.

"Uhh." Lucas looked down each corridor. "Uhhh..." Lucas tried to think, but the pressure of making a speed decision like this kept him from thinking straight.

_Crap!_ Why did they have to make this building so twisting? Why not make these things easy to navigate? Either way, time was running out, and he couldn't waste it thinking on such things.

"Lucas!" Eve screamed. "Which way!?"

"That way." He said, pointing to the one he thought was more likely. But right before they passed through it, Lucas pulled back and changed his mind, nearly causing Eve to lose her grip on Clint. He pointed to another corridor.

"This way."

Eve glared at him, but followed obediently. A few steps later, they heard the ceiling fall behind them. Lucas hazarded a look behind, and saw that the corridor he had originally chosen was now blocked with piles of rubble. The explosions, however, were still following close behind.

_Now if only we can make it out..._

"..."

As pumice and ash continued to fall and swirl about the air, Nobeer appeared to be the perfect visage of bravery standing amidst the deadly dust. At least, that's what _he_ believed. Everybody else believed he was an idiot for standing so close to the colosseum as it was rent asunder. But he really didn't care. He felt that he needed to display courage in order to instill the same feelings in his new rookie officer. Speaking of whom, here he comes.

"Sir!" the officer saluted Nobeer. "Everyone, except for three young teenagers, have made it out of the building."

Nobeer turned towards the new recruit, and narrowed his eyes. "How do you know it's three young teenagers?" he inquired.

"Two of them, a young man and the other a girl, got passed me and ran back in. They claimed to be looking for a friend of theirs. I can only assume that their friend is a teenager as well."

Nobeer's face, already with a stern look, twisted into a scowl. "Did the two that ran in look like they could've been in love?"

The officer turned red, uncomfortable at having been asked such a question. "I, uh, don't know. I guess they could have."

Nobeer nodded. "They may have lied about their friend. If they ran in for a lover's suicide, I'll hold you responsible."

"Wait, _what_!?"

"Dismissed!" The officer did as he was told and ran off. That last part had been a little harsh, but the rookie had to be tought that things were not always what they seemed. Especially in situations like this.

Feeling slightly curious about the three trapped inside, Nobeer advanced towards the colosseum's entrance, and peered inside. Hot air and flames belched outward, forcing him away. Nobeer stood to the side of the door, slightly dazed, with a feeling of enlightenment. The enlightenment of staying away from the door.

As he stood there, pressed against the buildings exterior, flames flew from the door again, only this time, three figures flew out as well. They had leapt through the door right as it burst into flames, and landed two feet from it. The girl he had never seen before, but Nobeer instantly recognized Lucas. The person they were carrying, being more injured than any of them, remained unrecognizable.

Nobeer wanted to say something to them, but they were already running from the building towards the medical team that was rushing to meet them. Barking at them for being stupid would only slow them down. He wasn't sure of what he would say anyway.


	11. Chapter 11

"Six hours ago, Mount Coronet ereputed at approximately 7:30PM, spewing ash, pumice, and lava in all directions. Moments before this happened, every pokemon on the island began acting strangely, especially the species with the closest relations to canines."

"That's right, Paul. Authorities are currently unaware of just how much damage has actually been done, but the place most people are talking about is Hearthome. The destruction of the colosseum there has been a shock to us all, with it being the hub of the Pokemon League and all. But the most shocking thing is the casualty report. one-hundred-and-five people have been found dead so far, while hundreds more may still be unaccounted for, and reports of injuries continue to pour in every hour. Along with this large tally, are those among pokemon. Literally thousands of pokemon died in the colosseum last night as a large portion of the PC storage system was consumed by the fires. The pokeballs, under extreme heat, began exploding, causing a chain reaction which nearly caused several people their lives. But there were also others that escaped the inferno. Two of these, most notably, are a Lucario and a Charizard, who fled the scene shortly after-"

* * *

Lucas turned the TV off. He'd had just about enough of the constant talk about the Hell he'd had to live through. He looked over at his friend, still asleep, and laying down on the bed provided by the hospital. His friend who he'd had to save, who had nearly died trying to escape on his own. 

His friend, named Clint.

He was hooked up to at least three different moniters, with twice that amount of IVs running out of his arms. Burn marks were visible all over his body, the most notable one, and the only one hidden, was on his stomach where his belly button used to be. But burns weren't the only injuries he'd sustained. Beneath his left armpit, was a wound, seven inches deep. The piece of wood that had stabbed him scraped against one of his lungs, nearly ripping it open with the it's repeated shaking. Just thinking about how much pain Clint had been in made Lucas shudder.

"You need to leave now." Lucas jumped at the voice, and whipped around in his seat to see who it was. A nurse was standing in the doorway. She looked tired, which that was understandable, and she spoke in a low voice. "Your mom called. She's worried about you, and wants you to return home."

Lucas didn't want to leave, though, even if he did need to get home. It may have been after three-o-clock in the morning, and, sure, he wanted to get some sleep. But he also wanted to stay with Clint until he woke up. Eve had fallen asleep in the waiting room four hours ago, and Lucas had been in Clint's room for so long that he wasn't sure if she was still there. Chances were she'd probably already left.

"C'mon, kid. You need to get home." Said the nurse, growing impatient. Not wanting to get in trouble, Lucas yielded. As he got up to leave, Eve showed up at the door. She was red eyed and groggy, and must've been awakened not long ago. She gave him a nod, which he returned as he walked past the nurse out of the room.

"Sleep well?" He asked as she took her place walking by his side in the hall.

"Well enough." She answered quietly. "How is he?"

"Stable. But they're still not sure when he'll wake up. It could be hours, or it could be a day. The doctor said it all depends on how long his body takes to mend itself."

"Mmm. What about your burns?"

Lucas looked at his left arm where his shirt was torn and burned. The burns he'd sustained ran up and down the entire arm's length, which was wrapped up completely in gauze. "I'll be fine." He said.

"What about your other personality?"

"My what? Eh-oh, yeah. I... dunno." Crap, now he was going to have to lie again. Although, maybe he could use it to set things straight.

"The doctor said that the psychological trauma we went through may have finally merged us into a single entity." He told her. "Only time will tell."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"What do you mean?"

Eve stopped walking and pulled on Lucas' shoulder, bringing him to a sharp stop. "Doesn't that mean your other personality died?"

"I... guess so." Why did it matter to her? She wasn't the one who lost a personality. Heck, not even he had lost one. Whatever the case, she shook her head in sadness.

"I can't imagine what it must be like for you now..." She said sympatheticly. "One of two voices, suddenly being silenced."

Lucas frowned. Was he really going to have to continue the lie after all? A better question was: Is she this gullible all the time? Of course, one really couldn't blame her for that. After all, she _had_ just met him today.

Eve continued to lament for his lost personality, until Lucas laid a hand on her shoulder. It was time to fix this. "Hold on a second." He told her. "Didn't I say that when one personality was on the surface, the other was in the background, inactive, and incapable of thought?"

The girl looked at him, then at the ceiling, obviously thinking back to the time in the battle booth. Once finished, she looked back at him and asked "So?"

"So," He said, leaning down close to her face. "how could I notice the other personality being gone, if I never noticed him being on the surface?"

Eve clearly hadn't thought of that, as she immediately began wrinkling and unwrinkling her face, thinking over every last detail. At first, Lucas thought he might have broken her mind, as she spent five minutes twisting and contorting her face while trying to come up with an answer. Finally, she shook her head in defeat. "You win."

Lucas smiled slightly, and had started walking again when Eve pulled him back.

"What now?" Lucas asked, wondering what she could still want to tell him.

Eve looked at him sheepishly, as if wondering whether she should tell him or not. Or perhaps she was just shy about saying whatever it was in public. When she did speak, it came out sort of crackily, and wasn't completely clear. "I, just wanted to say... thank you... for saving me back there. In the colosseum, I mean."

Lucas hadn't forgotten about that, nor had he expected a thank you from her. Nonetheless, he nodded, and accepted it. Later, after having left the hospital and said good-bye to his new friend, Lucas decided that he'd have some time to spend alone before returning home. He made his way back to Twinleaf Village, and stopped by the lake on the small suburb's south end. Staring across it's perfectly still surface, Lucas took a deep breath and sighed heavily, glad for the silence of the moment. This night had nearly marked his death, but he had lived through it, helping to bring his friends out on top with him along the way. But things were still far from normal. Clint had been hospitalized, Eve was a personal problem he still needed to work out. He was certain that both would turn out alright, but that second one would require more work. Especially given the fact that he needed to get his emotions in line. But that wasn't all...

There was also his missing Lucario to worry about.

It wasn't that he was worried about the creature's survival. No, he was worried about not finding her again. As things were, it was a complete fluke that that he had managed to find, what he believed, to be the only Lucario running wild on Sinnoh. And then to have the beast run off at the first sign of trouble, it was a little much to bear on top of everything else. But he would find her again. After all, she was his his friend. Even if nobody did believe she could speak.


	12. Chapter 12

"Good morning." Lucas' mother sang as he sat down to the table. He felt kind of groggy, but not enough to completely miss the meaning. He nodded in her direction, picked up a knife and proceeded to spread butter on his left hand. It felt thick and oily, not at all pleasant, and made squishy sounds as he clenched the fingers into a fist. The worst part, however, was the pain he felt as the butter soaked through the gauze to the burn mark beneath. At first, he thought that it might wake him up a little more. But as the pain increased, he noticed that it did nothing of the sort. So, there he sat, a facial expression that said "bite me," butter dripping from his hand and a searing heat in it's palm. _What a wonderful way to start the day_.

His mother noticed the butter slathered hand and asked, "What are you doing?"

He grabbed a rag and began mopping up the oily substance. "Wishing that I had picked up my toast before trying to butter it."

"You need to be more careful," She told him, shaking her head. "It's probably all those painkillers they gave you yesterday."

Yes. There had been painkillers. They had worked right up until he awoke this morning, pain lighting up his left arm like electricity tracing a path down a metal door. _Dirty little traitors._ Why couldn't they have continued working? Maybe it was their day off... His thoughts stopped at that last one. What was going on in his mind? his thoughts seemed to be going around in circles, each one crying out "Something was supposed to have happened by now." As they ran around, small pockets of knowledge broke off and returned to the surface of conciousness: the eruption, Clint hospitalized, Nobeer coming in the morning for the next four days...

Ah, that was it. Nobeer hadn't come for him today. What was up with that?

"Oh, by the way," his mother said with perfect timing. "Nobeer already came this morning. He said that you and Clint get a reprieve from work until you've both healed."

Lucas looked up at the sky and mouthed "thank you" to an unseen entity before slamming his head onto the table, smack into his eggs. He had intended to fall back to sleep right there, if the eggs had only not been fried.

"Mom?" he began, not lifting his head up. "Do me a favor, and never make fried eggs again."

* * *

After having an extended nap to let the final, drowzy effects of the painkillers die off, Lucas headed to Rowan's lab to see how the professor had faired the previous night. That was not, however, the real reason: he needed modifications made to his poketch so as to make finding Lucario easier. The former was only a cover; something he could use to gloss over the fact that he hadn't seen Rowan in at least two years. Hopefully. 

It's not that he didn't want to visit his aging friend. He was just nervous about meeting him again after so long. After all, a lot can change in two years.

As the doors to the lab opened, a familiar scent wafted into his nostrils. It was the painfully clean scent of air being processed and reprocessed through a recycler eliminating oders, dust and harmful bacteria from the air until it smelled like nothing. It unsettled his stomach a little, compounding on the fact he had no idea how Rowan was going to react to his sudden appearance. 

At any rate, the door had failed to make the professor show himself. Two years ago, all it had taken was the rustling of paper to make him appear behind you. That fact that the door no longer attracted him in that way made Lucas' stomach feel even worse. Rowan wasn't all that old; in his fifties at least. It was too early for him to be losing his hearing. It seemed like it was too early, anyway. 

Maybe Rowan was offended by his two year hiatus. Lucas' stomach went from "warning" to "critical" at the thought. He needed a soda, or else he may not be able to hold the bile down. 

_Maybe I should leave_, he thought for a moment. He could bother the professor another time. But, then again, Lucas was still concerned about him. It wouldn't be right to walk in and then walk right back out, anyway; people would wonder why. 

Slowly, weakly, he called out. "H-, ahem... Hello?"

No answer. The few technicians that had come to work acted as if he weren't there, preoccupied with their own experiments to even grunt an acknowledgement.

"Professor Rowan?" He called again, hoping for an answer. He was about to leave when a deep, elderly voice erupted from behind.

"Boo." Lucas nearly went through the ceiling, leaping away from the voice and scraping his right arm on a nearby desk before falling to the floor.

Rowan's bellowing laughter could be heard throughout the lab, shaking the floor and the air surrounding him. He helped Lucas back to his feet and slapped him on the back. "Heh heh, Hey buddy! Where've you been?"

Lucas, almost thrown back to the floor, answered in an off-key voice. "Places."

"What?" Rowan asked with narrowed eyes, "You don't sound too happy to see me."

"I feel like I've just been attacked by a loudred on a bad day." Lucas squeaked.

The older man nodded. "I do seem to have that effect on people, don't I?"

"Yes." Lucas had finally recovered, but the effort was wasted as Rowan pulled him by the shoulder to a desk on the other side of the lab.

"Tell me," The professor inquired, "Where were you last night? That eruption was something, wasn't it?"

Lucas wriggled free and put few paces between them, hoping to ward off anymore attacks. "I was at the colosseum."

Rowan's eyes bugged out; Lucas could've sworn he saw them touch the professor's glasses. "You were there?" He asked almost breathlessly.

Lucas nodded. "Clint and I are in the Sinnoh National Pokemon League as a tag-team. We're doing fairly well, too."

Rowan switched gears quickly and said, "Ah, that's good to hear." He walked around to the other side of the desk and sat down in a puffy swivel chair. "So... How long has it been, eh? One, two years?"

"Too long." Lucas said as he sat himself on the desk. Rowan was pouring a white liquid from a bottle, probably liquor of some sort, into two shotglasses. One of them he only filled halfway and offered it to him. 

"What's this for?" asked Lucas.

"To celebrate old friendships, and days long past."

Lucas eyed him strangely and accepted the glass. "Isn't it a bit early for me to be nostalgic?"

"Only if you have nothing to drink." Rowan raised his glass in a toast, as did Lucas, and both drank in a single gulp.

Lucas nearly gagged on the liquid, coughing and sputtering only after it had found it's way down his throat. Rowan appeared to have made it through with less of an effect, but his face still showed disgust. "What was that?" Lucas asked.

"Not my bottle of 1954 Kanto rum." The professor checked the label on the bottle. "It's an all natural window cleaner. One of my employees makes it. Non-toxic, thank God." He placed the bottle back where it had been and produced another bottle from a drawer in his desk. He checked the label this time, making sure that it was the rum, which it was, and poured it into their glasses. This time he topped them both off. They toasted again and drank, draining their glasses while embracing the warm, rich flavor over the previous substance that had violated their mouths. A tad strong, though.

"You know," Lucas said, setting his glass down on the desk. "I probably shouldn't of drank that."

"Nonsense." Said Rowan, refilling his own glass. "After the hell you went through last night, I think it's perfectly fine."

Lucas looked at his bandages as if he had suddenly remembered they were there. His thoughts drifted back to Clint, alone in the hospital. "Clint was injured."

Rowan drained his glass again. "I heard." He was about to pour himself another round, but thought better of it and put the rum away. "His father called last night, asked where he was. I said I didn't know and called his mother to find out. She didn't answer the home phone, so I rang up her cell. She told me everything. Poor lad."

"Indeed."

"Can't say he didn't have it coming to him, though. That mouth of his and the way he acts just seemed to demand an attitude adjustment."

Lucas gave Rowan a look. "You really think Clint is going to change? In the entire time I've known him, he hasn't changed. Unless, of course, you count his profane language. That was a change."

"Granted. But," Rowan began making a gesture with his index finger, "I have a feeling that he will change."

Lucas shook his head and rolled his eyes. "No."

"It's true! One day, he is going to find himself a lovely young woman and change. It may even be sooner than you think, too."

"And why, dare I ask, is that?"

"My niece, Eve, is in town. She recently moved out of Sunyshore to work here, gain life experience. She's-"

"An egotist?" Lucas finished.

Rowan frowned, and asked, "You met her?"

"Just last night at the league."

Rowan waited, then began gesturing for Lucas to continue. When he didn't, Rowan blurted "Well, what does he think?"

"He hates her guts."

"What?" Rowan stood up, sending his chair flying back into a wall. "What do you mean he hates her?"

"We had the lovely privelage of going up against her last night. Well, he did, actually. I was helping her. Sort of."

"Helping? What for?"

Lucas shied away a little. "Ehh, long story. Problems that seemed worse than they probably actually were. She was also borrowing one of my pokemon and, well, you know Clint..."

"Aye, that I do." Rowan pulled his chair back to the desk and sat back down, relaxing as he felt the rum do it's work. "But, has he even met Eve yet?"

Lucas opened his mouth and raised a finger, "No." said finger dropped. "I did."

"Oh." Rowan snapped his fingers, disappointed. "Blast it. Oh well, you can't rush change on people."

"Or force it upon those who wish to be left alone."

"True." The professor agreed. They were silent for a moment, but, as usual, silence must be broken. "What were you doing in those two years?" Rowan asked. "It's not everyday that you find you've gone two years without seeing someone."

Lucas looked down at the floor. "I know. I'm not entirely sure how the time passed, but it did."

"I trust your mother is doing well?"

Lucas nodded. "Yes. She's the same-" A bang of opening doors interrupted him. Another bang followed, signaling the closing of said doors. Lucas' head turned towards the entrance, half expecting to see Clint, and saw Dawn's father bracing himself against the door. He was trying to keep what appeared to be a mob outside for some unknown reason. It didn't look like he'd last very long.

"Rowan!" He called. "I need the key!"

The professor was already running over, arms swinging widely at his sides, key in hand. Together, the two men were able to keep the door shut and lock the door, much to the mob's dismay. But the throng of people didn't go away. They stayed there, pounding on the door, yelling and pushing pieces of paper and fliers through the crack beneath the door. Lucas strode casually to the scene and picked one up. But before he could read it, Rowan snatched it from his hands and angrily threw it back on the floor with the rest.

"What was that?" Lucas asked the professor, who was busy placing an incinerator in front of the door.

"It is nothing scientific, and I will not support their cause!" Rowan turned the incinerator on and watched as each flier that entered through the crack turned to blackened ash; the ones that had already piled up did the same. "Greedy bunch of doomsday prophets..." he muttered.

Lucas watched Rowan stalk back to his desk and sit down. His mood had clearly been spoiled. Lucas cautiously approached, questions on the tip of tongue, but too scared to ask them.

"They call themselves 'The Disciples of Kinthorn.' " The professor began without being provoked. "They're a religious cult that claim to have been around for centuries, even though they just started popping up six months ago. They believe that some prophecy is about to pass, and they firmly believe that it is because of something I did. They bug me without cease, day after day, and it's getting increasingly annoying!" He pounded a fist upon the desk, shifting the positions of various objects that sat on its surface.

Lucas wasn't sure what the price of question would be at this point, but he asked anyway. "What prophecy?"

"Don't you read mythology?" Rowan asked angrily. " 'The Prophecy of Kinthorn, dammit! That prophecy! According to legend, an ancient pokemon wrote it. Since we don't have records that go back that far, archeologists had to piece together unreliable facts to figure out what Kinthorn was. Most say he was a kabuto, and that's what everybody seems to have accepted as fact.

"According to the same legends, he's also the one who created the unown -- although there's evidence suggesting that he just re-shaped them. With the unown he wrote seven phrases, each written in a different cave. When the seven are combined in the right order, they form a single passage. That passage is supposed to tell of the end of the world: Two signs which will precede it, and the event that will trigger it."

Lucas looked back at the mob, banging on the door. "Is that what's on the fliers, then? The prophecy?"

"Indeed." Rowan reached back into the drawer and pulled out the rum again. "According to their oh-so-precious prophecy, last night's eruption was the first sign. Now they want everybody on the island to believe in that bullshit, but I know better." he poured himself another shotfull of rum, but sipped lightly instead of gulping. "It's just too damn bad that they won't leave me alone."

Lucas continued to look at the crazed faces of the zealots until a thought occurred to him. "Ummm, how am I supposed to leave?"

"You don't. You have to wait until nightfall when they go home."

Lucas frowned. "I take it you don't get out much, then?"

"Oh, I get out. I just don't get out _enough_. I would love nothing more than to enjoy the sunlight and fresh afternoon air. But," Rowan paused to sip his beverage, then continued, "They don't seem to want me to."

"Mmm. Well, since we appear to be trapped in here, now might be a good time for me to ask you something." Lucas pulled off his poketch and dropped it on the desk. "I need some modifications made."

Rowan picked up the object and flipped it around in his hands, looking at it from every angle. "What kind of modifications?"

"I need it to be able to detect a lucario's movements."

Rowan looked up from the watch, curiosity in his eyes. "Why? Was it your lucario that escaped last night?"

"Might be... Even if it isn't, I could always catch it for a reward."

"Hm, true enough." The professor set the watch aside. "I'll see what I can do. As for right now, I suggest you just make yourself comfortable. Evening won't be for several more hours, and things can get mighty boring around here."


	13. Chapter 13

Time passes slowly: This is most certainly a fact of life and nature. But it is more true for Lucas, locked up inside Professor Rowan's lab. He won't be locked up for much longer, though, for it is now very late in the day, and the angry, zealous mob outside has diminished. The sun has gone down, the moon is high in the sky, and the stars are casting their light down onto those who would look towards them. But despite all that is now going right, there is still one little problem...

"It's not finished." Rowan told Lucas as they walked to the front door together. "I can have it finished by the end of tomorrow--no sooner."

Lucas tried not to look upset, and he thought he did a good job, too. Nevertheless, his tone said everything. "I understand... You're a very busy person. I probably should've waited until you weren't."

"Actually," Rowan said, scratching his head, "I'm not busy at all; haven't really been in the last few years, either. The task is just time consuming."

"Oh." Now he felt awkward. Rowan sometimes did that to people, but such instances were usually few and far between. Lucas wasn't sure if that had changed any over the years but hoped it hadn't--in a bad way, that is. Either way, it didn't matter. He wasn't going to have his poketch until later and there was nothing he could do to change that. It was also late and he had to get home. Nodding to his old friend, Lucas began to walk out the front door when it split open prematurely and Eve(he had a split second to recognize her) came running in and crashed right into him. Naturally with gravity in place, both fell to the ground with a thud; Lucas let out an additional grunt.

"What the hell were you standing there for!?" Eve angrily yelled, getting up to her feat and brushing herself off.

"I suppose I should ask you why you just crashed into me." Lucas said behind clenched teeth. His left arm, having been burned, unleashed pain at having to shove his body mass back onto his feet. A small pained snort escaped his nose as the weight on it eased.

Eve apparently hadn't known who it was she had knocked over. When she saw him, almost instantly she switched to a surprised tone. "Lucas! It's you!"

"Yes, it is." He agreed in a deadpan way.

"Er, sorry about that." She said, looking down at her feet. "I thought you were another one of Uncle Rowan's lackeys."

"Indeed." Rowan snorted and stalked off. Lucas wondered why he should be the one to be offended, but didn't dwell on it for long. "How are you?" He asked.

"I'm fine. About as well as can be expected in this low-to-no interest town." Lucas took some offense from that--he lived here, after all. She continued, "I wasn't able to penetrate that mob, so I wasn't able to get," --she held out her hand-- "this through."

"This" was a small package no larger than a standard mail envelope. There was a small bulge in the middle of it, but otherwise there was nothing on it that made it special--not even any writing. "What's in it?" Lucas asked.

Eve shrugged. "Dunno. Uncle Rowan wouldn't tell me, and neither would Professor Oak. Some big secret thing that they won't tell anyone about." Eve shrugged again. "Uncle Rowan probably needed it for some big experiment today. That's why he's angry."

Lucas looked back to the professor's office, catching a brief glimpse of Rowan stalking to the back of his desk and resuming his work. "Are you sure it wasn't your 'lackey' comment?"

"I'm sure. That comment wouldn't have pissed him off, anyway; he's always saying stuff like that himself. Live with him for a few days and you'll understand."

"I can only imagine." That was most definitely true. A few years earlier Lucas was sure he would've been the one saying that instead of she. Having not seen Rowan for two years had clearly skewed his perception of the man. Or outdated it.

"Sooo, what have you been doing?" Eve asked.

Lucas held up a small book-like object. "Reading my pokedex to stave off boredom." He told her how he'd been trapped in the building since the mob showed up and how he'd asked Rowan to make modifications to his poketch. Eve's face twisted in disgust at the mere mention of the small device.

"You actually use one of those things?" Her voice dripped with what sounded like malice.

"I don't really know anyone who doesn't." He said. "Except for you, that is. And Clint."

"And with good reason. Theose things are just piles of shit that some no-good company designed to cheat people out of money."

"I didn't pay for mine. And I don't think Professor Rowan had to, either."

Eve's right eyebrow rose. "Uncle Rowan gave it to you?" She looked back towards his office and scowled. "Traitor. Several years ago I tried to tell him that they were useless, but he obviously didn't listen." She turned back to face him. "I bet you used it to help catch several of your pokemon, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah," he began, "but-"

"But _nothing_!" She angrily shoved a finger into his chest. "They make you weak! They make you forget how to use your natural senses for tracking down pokemon! Sure, they might be handy as a watch, but what about the other functions? Hm!? You don't want them to go to waste, so you use them and use them and use them until you've forgotten the fundamentals of being a trainer!" She threw so much anger into every word that each one all but exploded from her mouth. It also made Lucas wonder if Clint had actually met her once before; his views on the poketch were similar despite the fact that he'd used to use one himself. Maybe that's where Clint had gotten the notion in the first place. But regardless of whether that was true or not, she definitely believed everything she said, for she continued: "And another thing: When was the last time you freakin' went out catching without it?"

"Uhhhh..." He already knew the answer to that question, and, based on her reaction, he knew Eve wasn't going to like it. It was because Eve wouldn't like it that he didn't answer right away and attempted to stall. He wondered for a moment if it was possible to change the subject. Eve's glare killed that idea. Preparing for the outburst that was sure to follow, he said, "Never."

Either Eve wasn't fast on the uptake, or she wanted to let the silence linger. Her angry expression remained on her face for a full minute before changing to wide eyed shock. "You're shitting me..." She breathed. "There's no way in Hell you could've cought every single pokemon with one of those pieces of shit on your wrist..."

"Actually, the poketch did little more than help me catch Mesprit and tell me what time it was." Slight pause. "Aaaand act as a map, tell me where my plants had sprouted. The dowsing app is pretty good, too." Slowly, he began to remember everything else it done to help him. Each time he added an item to the list, Eve's jaw got lower. When he had finally finished, Eve picked her jaw back up and just stared. He could feel the power behind that gaze work its magic, too--in more than one way, even. But by far the greatest magic it worked on him was embarassment. His cheeks went red and heat filled his ears as her gaze continued to bore through his being. He wished she would stop, but that was probably asking for too much.

"Never?" She said slowly. "You have _never_ gone catching... without it?"

"Yeah, well, that's kind of what happens when you forget to take it off at night." He looked down at the untanned area on his wrist where it usually rested. "Or ever, for that matter."

"And you said, that... Uncle Rowan was making radar enhancements to it? Dare I ask: What for?"

"To find my Lucario?" He said tentatively.

Eve's face began to work around the way it had the night before when he'd confronted her about the finer points of having a second entity in his body. This time, though, she didn't take nearly so long to reach a conclusion. "No, you aren't." The way she said it was matter-of-fact, as if she could somehow see the future. "Instead, I am going to teach you how to track and catch pokemon without that little piece of shit. Tomorrow, early, nine-ay-em, be there." Then she stalked off towards Professor Rowan's office, package in hand, arms swinging angrily around her.

"Be where?" He called after her.

"Fuego Iron Works." She called back, and then disappeared behind a door. Lucas didn't waste any time hanging around after that. He went straight out the door he had been in the process of exitting, and breathed in the fresh nightly air. Freedom was clearly something he had taken for granted. It also made him wonder that, if that mob really was there everyday as Rowan had told him it was, then coming back to pick up his poketch might not be worth the effort. And not just because of the mob, either.


	14. Chapter 14

Palmer sat quietly in his office deep within the Battle Tower. The sun was shining through the open window, a soft breeze following it. He breathed in the glorious, clear air and sighed. However, this was no happy sigh, but one of weariness.

He looked out the window, away from the stacks of work piling on his desk. He saw birds outside, flying around freely with the wings they were all too lucky to possess. He sighed again, wishing that he were more like the birds, free to come and go as he chose. But, he wasn't, and that left him feeling more than a little blue. More and more these days, he found himself tied to his desk, or within the confines of a battle room with one of those few with a battle streak of 21. He didn't mind the latter so much, though. Battling _was_ one of the reasons he'd taken this job. The problem was that the rest of his work usually got in the way of it -- as well as everything else. Right now he would've loved nothing more than for the phone to ring announcing a new challenger. Not that it would. The thing hadn't rung all month. Not even a call from his family.

_Family... Heh_. Now that he thought about it, when was the last time he'd spoken with his family on a whim? It hadn't been too long ago that he'd seen his son. He had a picture sitting on his desk to prove it: He and Clint standing side by side, wide smiles spread across their faces, their three-pokemon teams standing in the background. He smiled at the picture now, remembering how fast and nastily his son had beaten him. But then the smile faded as he suddenly realized just how long ago it had been. Four years. It'd been four years since that day, and Palmer couldn't even remember speaking to or seeing his son since. _Now he's been hospitalized and I can't even go to see him. Some Father I am_, he thought and returned to his work. _Stupid work_.

Then the phone rang. Palmer looked at it, one eyebrow raised. Here he'd been thinking about the phone and the various persons attached to it and now it goes and rings. Had it been reading his mind? _No, it's a friggin' phone, you moron_. Slowly, he stretched out his arm and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello, Tycoon Palmer? I am the lead geologist of Sinnoh, Marvin Terrik. I'm afraid there's a matter of the utmost importance that I must speak with you about."

He sighed again. "Then you're going to have to stand in line, Mr. Terrik. I'm booked up to the sky with at least ten other meetings this week."

"This can't wait that long," the man persisted. "You don't have until next week. You may not even have until the end of _this_ week."

Palmer scowled. "Is that a threat?"

"If it were only that. You'll find out what I mean in about... three... two... one..."

Right as the geologist stopped counting, a tremor ran through his office. It wasn't very large, but it was noticable. Some books tried to dislodge themselves from their cases, but stayed firm. Other small items rattled around, moving only a few centimeters or so. When it was over, Palmer resumed the call: "What was that all about?"

"Presents from Mount Coronet, Palmer."

"And why do you keep calling me by my first name?"

There was a slight pause. "I'm sorry, sir, but you really must listen. If you don't, the entire battle island will be destroyed and its residents lost."

"Right. How soon can you be over here?"

"Within the hour, sir."

"Be here in half that," and Palmer hung up.

*..*..*

Lucas watched as his target suddenly jumped up out of the tall grass and ran away. In the distance he could hear Eve sighing. What had gone wrong? He'd been completely silent, soft on his feet and everything. Maybe he smelled? ... No, not that he could tell.

He stood up from his hiding place and looked around. Not one blade of grass was rustling. Normally, there would've been something shaking the grass; it didn't really matter what it was. But right now, there was nothing. No wind, nothing to make it move. He found the scene to be really unsettling.

Eve noticed it, too. "Something feels strange. Do you feel it?" She asked him from outside the tall grass.

Lucas went still and tried to see if he could. Sure enough, there a was a low vibration in the ground. "I feel it."

"Weird, isn't it?" She asked as the vibration ended.

Lucas waved the comment away. "It was probably the Iron Works."

Eve turned towards the building looming in the background. "Yeah, but as far as I know, the Iron Works isn't even open at this time of day."

Forgetting that he had left it with Rowan to be upgraded, Lucas lifted his arm to check his non-existant poketch. Irritated with himself, he called to Eve, "What time is it?"

Eve checked her watch. "It's eleven-forty-six."

Lucas shook his head. "No, they started working about two hours ago. Nine-thirty to midnight every day."

"Oh." Eve scratched her head. "I guess it could've come from over there, then." Then her stomach growled. It was so loud that Lucas could hear it from several meters away.

"Or maybe _that's_ where the vibrations came from," Lucas laughed pointing at her. Then his own stomach growled equally loud. Eve laughed back at him, much harder than he had at her.

Hunger driving them, the two made their way to Gud Burger for lunch. Lucas ordered his usual "Gud Burger" with large fries and a large soda. Eve, having never stepped foot inside the restaurant, had trouble deciding. She stood at the register reading the menu and shaking her head for five minutes before ordering the same thing he had. The cashier -- the same one Clint had insulted a few days before -- glared at her as they made their way to Lucas' and Clint's usual spot. Once there, Eve immediately dove into her food, devouring it with more passion than she put into battling. Lucas wanted to do the same thing, but found that his mind had started to wander. Lost in his thoughts, all he could do was swirl a fry in ketchup and stare out the window, his eyes shifting in the direction of Stark Mountain in the distance. It seemed different from the last time he'd seen it. Maybe the smoke rising from it was darker? No, that wasn't it. It was something more subtle than that... but what? Maybe it was just him. Or maybe it wasn't and something really was different about it. Either way-

"Are you going to eat that?" Eve asked, snapping Lucas back to the present.

"Yeah," he said absent mindedly. "I'm just not feeling like it now."

Eve cocked her head at him as a dog would when eyeing something strange. "Something wrong?"

Lucas, still trying to regain his train of thought, didn't answer. Well, not right away, anyway. Eventually, he did say, "Well... It's just... Ah, never mind."

"What?" Eve persisted. "What's bugging you? You can tell me if it's _really_ personal. I won't tell anyone."

Lucas gave her the look he liked to give Clint whenever the guy said something annoying. He wasn't sure if the look could be used for the same instance, but he did it all the same. "We've only known each other for a couple of days. Why would I tell you anything super secret?"

Eve shrugged. "I dunno. You're kind of weird that way."

I'm _weird? What does that make you?_ Lucas sighed and decided to bite. "I was just thinking about something."

"Like what?"

Suddenly hungry again, Lucas began to eat his burger, saying with a full mouth, "Oh, you know, just wondering why Mount Coronet just now decided to blow up."

"Oh." Eve looked disappointed. "That's it?"

"Basically." Lucas took another bite. "It had been classified as an extinct volcano, right?"

"I guess..." Lucas could tell that she didn't care, so he didn't even bother to to continue the conversation. He noticed he was still swirling that fry in the ketchup and stopped. Silence followed. And then Eve broke it saying, "But... so is Stark Mountain." She spoke so suddenly that it startled Lucas and he nearly choked. She began to say, "You don't think that it might..." but her voice trailed off and her face began to twist and contort itself again.

"Perhaps," Lucas answered, guessing what she was trying to say and ignoring her broken state. Ultimately, that was the exact same line his thoughts were following. "But what are the chances of that happening so soon after Mount Coronet?"

*..*..*

"Pretty damn high, sir." Marvin told Palmer inside the tycoon's office. "We're running calculations 'round the clock, but things are only looking worse. Everytime we find an error in our data, we recieve a closer date for its eruption."

Palmer hung his head and sighed. "You're sure that a new lava channel has formed?"

Marvin looked indignant. "We're not _sure_, sir. We _know_. We knew about the lava channel six years ago, and we released our findings publicly -- how you managed to not know this is beyond me. But back then it wasn't a matter of whether or not it would erupt. Now, though, with Mount Coronet creating all sorts of seismic disorder, it's only a matter of time before it does."

Palmer hid his face in his hands and sighed again. As the Tower Tycoon, it's his job to oversee everything on the island and make sure that no harm comes to it or its residents. Basically he's performing the job of a mayor, which isn't hard in and of itself, just time consuming. But never in his life had he had to deal with anything quite like this as the tycoon.

He shifted his gaze towards the window and the towering mountain it provided a view of. Smoke was lazily rising from its summit, dissipating as it got higher into the sky. Palmer noted the presence of a crack in its side that he had never seen before; a sure sign of immenent destruction. He sighed yet again. But somewhere in the middle of it, a lightbulb in his head went off. He stopped sighing and began to ponder a wonderous idea. It was a rather insane idea, one that most likely wouldn't work, but it was so absurd that it would almost certainly work. Whatever logic that followed, he didn't know, or care for that matter. All he wanted to do now was carry through with it whether it failed or not. At the very least it would look cool.

Not voicing the idea, he stood tall and proud with his chest puffed out and his hands in fists at his sides; the perfect paragon of a stalwart hero. No longer was he the tired and weak figure from a few moments ago, but now the person that he became in order to fight: The fearless Tower Tycoon. Without any restraints, he waved a hand forward as the voice of his soul burst forth -- the same voice he had passed on to his son: "Well, what are we waiting here for? Send out distress calls, warn the populace, evacuate every populated area and herd everyone to the docks. If we're going to survive this shit, then we need to evacuate. Hurry!"

And Marvin did exactly that, leaving the suddenly transformed tycoon by himself. Palmer looked out towards Stark Mountain again, a baleful look in his eye. No longer did he see a deadly killer in it. Just another enemy for him to crush. _And crush it I will. Or, more accurately, _we _will. Maybe... Damn well better._


	15. Chapter 15

"I wonder what's going on..." Eve mused aloud. Lucas was standing next to her in the large crowd of people outside the Battle Tower where the Tower Tycoon was about to make a special address to the people of Sinnoh. The Tycoon almost never made speeches like this, so she was a little apprehensive about it. What if the fanatical "Pokemon Rights" movement had gained ground? What if those Disciples of Kinthorn crazies had managed to talk the Tycoon into something? Unfortunately with the entire Battle Island in a state of evacuation, it seemed that either could be the case. Becoming even more apprehensive, Eve started bouncing on her heels, her face twisted into something between fright and rage.

"Calm down," Lucas told her. "Bouncing around like a spoink isn't going to make the wait go any faster."

Eve looked at him out of the corner of her eyes and scowled. Lucas never seemed to take anything seriously. At least nothing that wasn't directly linked to him or his friends. Although, she did grant him that she probably _was_ thinking about it too much. Feeling foolish, and not for the first time in the past few days, she stopped bouncing and crossed her arms. "I don't like this," she growled.

Lucas sighed. "And neither do I. Palmer isn't really one for calling press events like this, so I wonder what happened."

Eve actually turned to look at him and noticed that he was sweating; not profusely, but more than was normal for the current temperature. Was he worried about something? Wait, of course he was. He was worried about his friend - Flint, or whatever -, he was worried about his missing lucario... was there something else? Something interesting and juicy? Lucas saw her staring and presented a piece of paper with something written on it. It read:

"_Lo, from the highest mountains, fire flows forth; the cleansing fire which will stamp out places of war and bring peace before the end._"

"What's this?" She asked.

"Some weird old guy gave it to me." Lucas told her.

Eve read it several times over before crumpling the paper and throwing it at Lucas' face. "Fool, don't believe everything you read. Least of all something from a Disciple of Kinthorn." She turned away from him as he mumbled something about not knowing who it was from and resumed bouncing on her heels. Of course she knew who it was from. It was obvious from the way it was written that it was part of the Disciples' "prophecy." _Stupid assholes. Why can't they just-_

"The highest mountains..." Lucas continued(probably to no one), "Mount Coronet... and Stark Mountain..."

With her train of thought derailed again, Eve stopped bouncing and turned back to him. "What about them?"

Lucas met her eyes. "They're both volcanoes, for one." His voice had become menacing and commanding. It made her wish he hadn't said anything. "They had also been declared extinct by every geologist visiting and residing here."

Eve faught to retain her composure and won out. She glared at him, directing her pale green eyes into those deep steel-gray eyes of his. "Don't tell me you actually believe it?"

Lucas turned away from her and up towards some point in the sky. "I don't know. But Stark Mountain looks different somehow..."

So that's what he was looking at... Eve directed her gaze up there as well, wondering if this difference... _Son of bitch, it _does_ exist_. She couldn't decide what looked different about it, either. It just did. Was it the smoke? Was it the strange shadow that it appeared to have along its side? Was it the confetti and trumpets?

Startled by the noise, Eve looked ahead towards the tower and nudged Lucas in the side. The Tower Tycoon had come out and was striding arrogantly towards the podium where he would make his speech. _I guess now we'll find out..._

"I can't feel anything. I can't hear anything. I can't see anything... I would say I can't think anything, but that would be a lie, wouldn't it? Yeah, I'm kind of conscious. Not entirely, or else I would know that there's no such thing as a chocolate rainbow that shoots fire and acid from it's sixty-two laser cannons. Wait, that was a contradiction... Oh, for shit's sake, who cares? The fact is that I am apparently alive after... whatever it was that happened. The details escape me right now."

*...*...*

"Aye. You are alive, Clint." The angel to whom I was speaking said. "But is this real, or a dream? Do _I_ exist? Am _I_ alive?"

Looking at her, I would think so. But then again, I can't ever recall actually seeing an angel in my life. Well, there was that one time when I fell down the side of mount Coronet, but that could've been a halucination brought on by adrenaline and panic. "I don't know. You may or may not exist."

"I hope I do..." She says to herself. "I hope this is all real..."

Rolling my eyes I tell her, "Yeah, I really can't say the same thing." Wow, what's with that look she's giving me? I'm telling the truth. I thought bitches liked men who told the truth all of the time? Not that I care.

"How can you say that!" She screams right into my ear. "I thought what we had was special!"

"If you're talking about our dog, then, yes, we do." She was, of course, _not_ talking about the dog(who is just the cutest thing ever). She was talking about her attempt to suck my face off with her lips, which I had expertly dodged for sixteen hours. Or had it been sixteen days? I can't really say for certain.

She's still making that face. Damn, bitch, do you really care for me that much Apparently not, because she's about to cut my head off with a rusty knife made of cheese. No, wait, too late. She already did. And does it ever _hurt_. But not where it should hurt. There's pain in my head, my stomach, my lungs, my arms and legs... Pretty much everywhere that isn't my neck. Maybe I'm dead and I'm in Hell now... Maybe all of that weird shit _was_ real, and that everything I had experienced before, the realistic stuff, was the dream... At any rate, I can't open my eyes or control any of my extremities, which only serves to confirm this. But I can hear something...

"... we must not let this volcano expunge us from our homes. We must stand strong in the face of the impossible odds and fight! We are trainers, fetishists, collectors, pokemaniacs, team members, pokemasters; fighting is what we do best. And if we were to band together, we would harness a power greater than any that has ever been seen before. We may not be able to stop Stark Mountain from erupting, but we _will_ stop it from destroying everything we've worked so hard to build. And so, I now request the assistance of every trainer from every island region to help us. Once this force is assembled, they will be split into four groups. For group one, I am asking only for teams built entirely of water based pokemon - at the very least, two per trainer. Group two: only fire types will be accepted. Group three will be ground and rock types, and group four flying types. These four groups will be-"

That would be Palmer, my dad. If I'm hearing his voice, it can only mean that a TV in the room is on. Which means I'm not dead. Dad... I haven't seen him in years... Even now as I lay here in... I guess a hospital, he doesn't come to see me. I _guess_ his job as the Tower Tycoon and mayor of Battle Island is really important, but would it kill him to visit every once in a while? And what was that about Stark Mountain erupting? What happened to me? Why did the Hearthome colosseum explode? More questions I don't have answers to. Kind of like that one...

I want to open my eyes, to see the world around me once more. But I can't. I need to rest some more. I'll awaken soon, though. Nothing is going to keep me down forever. Lucas... I... I need to tell you...

...

Date that stupid bitch.

*...*...*

"These four groups will be paramount to stopping every aspect of the eruption. Water types will be used to cool down running magma. Fire types will absorb and disperse as much heat as possible to assist the water types. Ground and rock will use their powers to counter any and all earthquakes and other seismic distortions as well as seal off the lava channel as we advance against the mountain. And finally, the flying types will channel all dust and ash away from populated areas and safely dispose of it.

"This is our home! Humans and pokemon alike live here! Nature has no business forcing us away from it! We've always twisted and molded the land to fit our needs, why should this be any different! Sure, we may be evacuating now, but we will come back! And to you, Stark Mountain, I offer this warning: We will show no mercy to you! We will show you who the master of this land is! Now who's with me!"

A great roar burst forth from the crowd as well as the sound of many pokeballs opening and releasing their captives. Palmer grinned. These were the people he worked for. These were the ones who would stop the nefarious Stark Mountain from blowing away everything they had created. And if they failed, then they would simply rebuild. Why? _Because that's how we roll, bitch_.


	16. Chapter 16

It so happened that those who had volunteered for the defense of the battle island would be required to stay there on standby until the day of their requirement. Temporary living areas were constructed for each team, and means of communicating with home provided. The now reformed Team Galactic were stationed for security purposes, and standardized food rations were also distributed by them. The air of those who were stationed to protect the island was that of intense optimism. It was amazing how strongly each trainer believed that they could stop a volcano simply by attacking it en masse.

Or at least Lucas thought it was amazing. On a personal level, he himself didn't really know what to think. He never admitted to it, though. And certainly not with Eve clinging to him like some sort of leech. He didn't mind her company at all. Her presence was comforting, something familiar he could grab hold of when the need arose. There was only one problem: She wouldn't leave him alone. Ever. In the three days they had spent together bunked in the same cabin, she had not stopped talking about possible strategies for taking down opponents, taking down the volcano, taking down him specifically in a match(these talks usually went on into great length), or something else battle related. True, most of Lucas' days were willingly spent battling. True, he had willingly entered himself in the Sinnoh National Battle League. True, he had befriended the other biggest pokemon battle maniac in existence. But honestly, he was beginning to get tired of it. What he really wanted was to get this whole volcano thing over with so that he could go back to searching for his lost lucario. After that, maybe he could travel to the Unova region and look for the local pokemon species... Yeah, that would be a welcome diversion from the norm. He had more than enough money to make the trip. And once Clint was better, maybe both of them could go.

Lucas checked his cell phone. There were no missed calls, or new text messages. Not since the news that Clint had awakened for a brief moment before resuming his sleep. That fact alone had been enough to put Lucas' mind at ease, but he still couldn't wait to visit his friend again. Until then...

"-still think that we should've been in the fire division, but water is ok, too. Better this than the flying division. Those guys are completely worthless."  
... the other more potent Clint would have to do. Despite the mild annoyance of Eve's mouth never stopping, Lucas allowed himself a smile. He liked Eve, that much he knew. He hoped the feeling was mutual, but he imagined that Eve was probably the kind of person who wouldn't give someone she hated the time of day. Every now and then he would entertain the thought that she might mellow out a little, or he might become a little more eccentric, and the two of them might fall in love. But such fantasies were few and far between as the prospect seemed completely absurd. Still, it didn't hurt to think about it. Anything can happen after all.

"Hey, Lucas?" Eve said.

"Huh?"

"I'm hungry. Wanna go out to eat?"

Lucas concentrated on his own stomach. Sure enough, it felt empty. Almost ragingly so. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"Your house."

That... was different. "Uhh... Any particular reason why?"

"I don't feel like spending money, I'm tired of the military rations, and I'm sure your parents won't mind you dropping in with company."

To anyone else, the blatant honesty would've been disconcerting. Lucas, however, found it refreshing. Too many people in the world lied their way through life. "Yeah, that sounds reasonable."

Lucas and Eve left their cabin, and went to inform their squad leader of where they were going. Once they got there, however, a new problem arose.

"Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and say no to that," Officer Nobeer sneered. Despite being part of the local law enforcement on the mainland, Nobeer had somehow managed to weedle himself into the Battle Island's protection. Eve was not amused.

"Come on! Why not!" she cried.

Nobeer's sneer got even nastier. "Let me see. That guy you're with still hasn't payed his debt to society. You're currently on probation for attempting to sneak a weapon into the Island Protection Compound, and on top of that, you're both on standby until the big event."

Eve slammed her fist onto Nobeer's desk. "Mace is not a weapon! It's a perfectly acceptable form of non-lethal self-defense!"

"A likely excuse. But from whom might you need to defend yourself against?"

Eve pointed to Lucas. "I have a right to make sure this guy doesn't try anything, don't I! I'm stationed in the same cabin as he is!"

Lucas, not batting an eye, chose to remain silent. He knew that Eve was simply trying to get her way. The only problem was that Nobeer was notorious for not giving a single inch to those he deemed beneath his station.

Nobeer looked Lucas over and feigned a pause for thinking; it wasn't hard to tell, Nobeer didn't strike one as being an intellectual. "A good point. Your mace is hereby returned," Lucas' eyes bulged and his heart began to pound, "but your request to leave is still denied. Like I said, that guy still has a debt to society to pay, and you're both on standby." Nobeer held out his hand with the mace in it, which Eve siezed fiercely and stalked off, Lucas trailing after her fearing for his eyes.

The pair wound up in the makeshift cafeteria at the usual lunch our like everyone else. Eve made it a point to sit as far away from the other trainers as possible, still angry.

"That Nobeer guy is such an asshole! Who does he think he is!"

"Probably God," Lucas answered.

"Yeah..." Eve fidgeted with her can of mace. "Shame I didn't think to spray him in the face before leaving..."

_More like a good thing you didn't think to spray him before leaving_, Lucas thought.

"What's this 'debt to society' he kept saying you have to pay?"

"Uhh..." How best to answer this? He knew why he had that "debt to society". Attempting to drink and battle was not looked upon favorable by anyone except those who chose to do it. Eve was probably no exception. But maybe she would be indifferent...

"It wasn't a BUI, was it?"

_Damn it!_

"I highly doubt that," said a new voice from behind. "Lucas here is too straight of an arrow for something like that."

To Lucas, that voice was all too familiar. He was no longer aware of Eve's presence, and addressed the voice from behind. "Actually, it was an _attempted_ BUI."

The voice chuckled. "You lost the girl, so you decided to be an immature child?"

"Immaturity has its merits."

"Oh? Then you believe being treated like a child all your life is pleasurable?"

"Better than being like you."

Eve was beginning to look left out. Probably because she was being left out. She picked up her mealtray. "I'm going to leave you two to argue. See you later, Lucas." And she walked away.

"Indeed." With Eve gone, the one who had trashed his pleasant meal with her sat down in the now unoccupied spot. "I didn't think I'd see you so soon, Dawn."

Dawn threw her head back, whipping long black hair out of her face. She didn't wear the hat anymore, nor was she wearing a miniskirt. What she wore now was a simple robe with flared sleeves and varying shades of gray and blue swirled all over like a miasma of sorrow. "And I didn't think you would be dumb enough to join this little stint to save a stupid tower."

"It's not just about the tower," Lucas retorted. "It's about the people who live here and their livelihood, their homes. If Stark Mountain blows, they lose everything."

"Oh, yes, it'd be just _terrible_ if they lost what could be rebuilt. Or if they lost what shouldn't be rebuilt." Her tone was mocking. She had believed herself superior since joining the Pokemon Rights movement.

"What do you want?" Lucas asked.

Dawn snorted and said, "You always think I want something, don't you?"

"That's because you do always want something. If it's not the end of pokemon training and research, it's something else. Now what is it?"

"I don't want anything."

"Then why are you here? Security is tight in this place, and all civilians not involved in the island's protection are supposed to be off by now. If they catch you, it won't be pleasant."

Dawn smiled. "So you do still care about me."

"I care more about being seen with you. I'm not exactly on good terms with my squad leader. Just tell me."

Dawn's smile melted into a frown. "I've come to warn you."

"About what?"

"A new team has emerged. One that operates from Unova. They've rigged Stark Mountain to make it explode."

"So what? The mountain is going to explode anyway."

Dawn shool her head. "Not to the extent they're aiming for. A natural eruption from Stark Mountain will mostly be magma, and little ash. This new team aims to increase the blast yield of the ash, putting the mainland in danger as well. Even your flying division won't be able to handle it."

"How do you know this?"

Dawn's voice became low. "The Pokemon Rights movement has been keeping an eye on them. They claim to be in support of our movement, but we've heard otherwise. I'm part of the investigation force that was looking into their Sinnoh operations. Unfortunately, they moved to Unova three months ago, so we can't track them anymore."

Lucas' eyes narrowed. "If they moved to Unova, then how did they do it?"

"We think they worked through Team Galactic. And if they didn't do it officially, then definitely unofficially."

Lucas thought about it. He had his own misgivings about Team Galactic, yes, but he also knew Commander Saturn and trusted him. "I'm not going to believe that it was an inside job, Dawn. You're going to have to give me some proof."

At this, Dawn promptly pulled out a folder and laid it in front of him. It looked like it barely had anything in it. "That's all of the data we could gather before they completely abandonded their operation in Sinnoh."

Lucas opened the folder and found two pages. The first was a document describing the new organized team that Dawn had mentioned. The second was a small list of suspicious people along with a list of supplies from various places that had just disappeared. Some of the people on the list were indeed from Team Galactic, and most of the supplies were rocks and sand. At the very bottom was a litany of small orders of plastic explosives that had gone missing... "Why haven't you taken this to Tycoon Palmer yet!" He demanded

Dawn calmly closed her eyes and shrugged. "He probably won't believe me. The Pokemon Rights movement isn't exactly popular, you know." She opened her eyes and looked back into his. "Oh, that reminds me. I guess I lied about not wanting anything from you."


	17. Chapter 17

"This is not at all what I wanted to hear," Palmer told his guest. "Team Galactic has been most helpful in setting up the Protection Compound. I am not about to assume them traitors!"

It wasn't hard to understand his rage. The once infamous Team Galactic had done everything in their power to fabricate temporary housing, provide rations and clean water, and help organize the defense efforts. Their hands were in everything, and if Galactic were openly accused of wrongdoing, things could get ugly, fast.

"I know, Palmer," Lucas replied. "But I hardly think we can afford to overlook this."

Palmer ignored him. "Where did you get the information from again?"

"From someone within the Unlimited Pokemon Rights group."

"Dawn?"

Lucas nodded.

"Trash, then. This paper is nothing but lies."

"That's a baseless assumption."

Palmer slammed his fist on his desk. "Dawn is a base and vile aggressor, all of UPR is! They collect 'donations', slam every media outlet with their message of 'equality', and condemn even the most noble charities for their cause. No, none of this is true! This is just another attempt at some publicity stunt!"

"But we can't just ignore it," pleaded Lucas. "We should at least investigate, see if we can't find some truth to it."

"We have no time for that." Another tremor hit as he said this. "It's almost zero-hour. We can't accurately predict when Hell is unleashed, it might be today, tomorrow or next week. I'm not going to send a squad in there to check for explosives."

"So you plan to just sit here and do nothing!?"

"We will do exactly that!" Palmer boomed, scowling deeply at Lucas. "For now, anyway. Is that clear?"

Lucas remained silent.

"You think I'll treat you any differently because you beat me? Because you're a friend of my son?"

Lucas glared back at him. "It's not often that I brag, but I defeated _everyone_. I don't take situations lightly."

"And neither do I. We can't afford to go off the deep end just because we've heard some whispers about what might be."

"At least increase the size of the flying division to compensate for the additional ash. Any increase will help."

Palmer shook his head. "We can't support it. Team Galactic's funding and resources aren't infinite, they have limits, and we're pushing those limits already."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Asked Lucas.

The older man sighed. "The only things we can do: Wait, and pray."

* * *

"How'd it go?" asked Eve as Lucas left the tycoon's office.

"Not good. He isn't willing to accept that there's even a possibility of the report being true."

"Unacceptable," said Dawn from behind Eve.

"Oh, like you care," retorted Lucas.

Dawn scowled. "Obviously, I do. An eruption of this magnitude will affect all pokemon in Sinnoh."

Lucas coughed.

"_And_ humans," Dawn growled.

"And don't you forget it," Lucas bit out. "Come on, Eve. We have work to do."

Dawn raised an eyebrow at the retreating couple. "Work?"

Lucas nodded. "At Stark Mountain."

"A direct confrontation!?"

"Alright!" Exclaimed Eve before Lucas clamped her mouth shut.

"No, Dawn," whispered Lucas, "Think of it as more of... an investigation."

"But why not just visit Commander Saturn at Galactic Headquarters?" asked Dawn in an equal whisper.

"It's too late for that. It's like Palmer said, we have no way of knowing when the mountain could blow. We have to act now."

"Then I'm coming with you."

Lucas narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Dawn brushed her hair in a vain flourish. "It's within my interests, of course."

Lucas began walking away, Eve still in his clutch. "That's the only reason you ever do anything."

Getting out of the complex wasn't easy. Security patrols were always active, and few gaps existed through which to slip. Dawn remarked that it was more like a prison than a government compound. With the help of Eve's aggron, and an easily scared trainer, they managed to dig a tunnel beneath a patrol route into a forest clearing. From there it was a straight shot to the mountain, as the towns were all abandoned. Then things got complicated.

"Why are there so many magcargo just sitting around outside the mountain entrance?" asked Lucas.

Dawn shrugged. "Don't look at me, I don't know. Maybe something happened inside?"

Lucas glowered at her. "Right. Excess magma is going to force a snail made of rock and fire to move outside. Brilliant deduction."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" asked Eve maliciously.

Dawn gave the other girl a look before shifting her gaze back to Lucas. "And this is your new girlfriend?"

"Congratulations."

"I'm not his girlfriend," stated Eve.

"Congratulations," Dawn and Lucas said in unison. Neither of them were in a good mood, which seemed to be declining with each minute. Eve shrank back and pouted. "Well, I'm not..."

"It's alright," soothed Dawn, "I'm sure you're really nice." She continued to glare at her ex-boyfriend. "Or at least relatively nicer than _some_ people."

"I would really love to chit-chat all day, but we've got more pressing issues," said Lucas. "We need to get inside the mountain, preferably without cooking ourselves." Lucas rubbed his bandaged left arm. "Already did that once..."

Another tremor hit. The ground shook far more severely than it did back at the compound, cracking the ground and causing the human trio to stumble and fall. The magcargo retreated back into their shells, a few slugma clambering atop the older pokemon for safety. A sound like something collapsing and smoke errupted from the mountain's entrance.

"Well, I think now we know why the magcargo are out here," remarked Lucas, helping Eve to her feet.

"Yeah," replied Dawn, "they don't want to get themselves killed." She brushed dust and dirt off of her tunic. "I'm thinking that we should probably go back."

"Not until I have the truth." Lucas pulled out a pokeball and released his Gyarados.

Dawn shook her head. "You cannot be serious."

The young man looked back at her. "When was the last time I wasn't?" He then gave a single command, "Hydro pump." A great blast of water issued forth from gyarados' mouth, dousing all of the magcargo and flooding into the mountain side. Smoke mixed with steam, opaque and poisonous. The beast kept up the waterworks until the great cloud had subsided. "Good work," Lucas complimented. "Now, let's go."

"But what about all of these pokemon you just injured!?" Dawn screamed. "Look at them!"

Lucas did, though no more than a cursory glance. Each magcargo had remained it's shell, now substantially cooler than they had been a moment ago. Some of the slugma had also been doused, their skin cracked and brown, a growing orange glow peaking through the gaps. "We need to get through now. It won't be long before they fire back up. They'll be fine, but _we_ won't be if we don't hurry." Taking his own advice, he ran full speed into the cave, Eve not far behind.

Dawn followed, but only because there was nothing else for her to do, yelling protests the entire way.


End file.
